Jonathan Steele has been making pottery since 2009 and received an MFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2016. He began a deep-dive study of tea and teaware and developed his particular style for woodfired teapots, the supporting vessels for gong fu cha and tea more broadly while Resident Artist at Pleasant Hill Pottery in 2016-2018. 

Jonathan was selected as resident artist at Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Shigaraki, Japan in 2024 where he made and completed a body of work, fired an Anagama and smaller Ittekoi wood kilns, explored some of the cultural nuances of tea vessels and had a solo exhibition. 

In 2025 Jonathan built and established his personal studio in Redmond, WA and currently shows regularly in galleries in Seattle, Portland, Santa Fe, New York, and London while also supplying teaware to retailers and participating in the Tea Festival circuit in the Pacific Northwest.