Susy O’Donnell Brown County Potter

Susy O’Donnell: Brown County’s Beloved Potter

Full disclosure before we go any further: Susy O’Donnell is my tennis partner. So when I tell you she’s one of the most talented and genuinely kind-hearted artisans you’ll find in Brown County, I mean it both on and off the court.

But the work speaks for itself. Susy has been a cornerstone of the Nashville art scene for decades — a potter whose pieces feel like they’ve always belonged in your kitchen, on your table, in your hands. Bowls and mugs with a warmth that makes them feel like old friends. Larger works that stop you mid-browse and make you stand there longer than you planned.

I point every guest toward her work. Not because she’s my friend — though she is — but because taking home a piece of Susy’s pottery is one of the best ways to take home a piece of Brown County itself.

Functional, beautiful, and unmistakably Brown County.

Susy began her pottery journey with a love of form and function — the idea that everyday objects should be beautiful, that the mug you reach for every morning deserves the same care as something you’d hang on a wall. That philosophy is visible in everything she makes.

Her craft has evolved over the years, but her connection to clay and to Brown County’s long artistic tradition has never wavered. There’s an earthy, unhurried quality to her work that reflects the place it comes from — the same hills and quiet roads and unhurried pace that draw people to Nashville in the first place.

She exhibits her pottery at the Brown County Art Guild on Main Street in downtown Nashville and at the T.C. Steele State Historic Site — two very different settings that show two very different sides of what her work can do.

Two stops worth building your day around.

Both locations are worth a visit on their own — Susy’s pottery just makes them better.

From the 1891 Schoolhouse Inn, you’re a scenic country drive from downtown Nashville — easy to pop into the Art Guild on your way to or from anywhere. From Helmsburg Homestead, you’re minutes from the village, so a gallery stop fits naturally into a day of shopping, dining, and exploring.

Either way, go. You’ll leave with something you’ll use every day and think about Brown County every time you do.

Why the art scene here is worth your time.

T.C. Steele helped put Brown County on the map as an artist’s colony more than a century ago. What he started — this idea that the hills and light and quiet of this place were worth painting, worth preserving, worth living inside of — is still very much alive. Artists like Susy are the reason for that.

The art scene here isn’t a backdrop. It’s the thing itself. When you browse the galleries on Main Street, when you pick up a piece of pottery and feel the weight of it in your hands, you’re participating in something that’s been going on in this county for over a hundred years. That’s not nothing. That’s actually everything.

Brown County has always attracted people who make things with their hands and their whole hearts. Susy is one of them. Go find her work. Bring something home.

And if you see her on the tennis court — tell her I said hi.

Stay cozy. Stay local. Stay with us.

Leah Lamm

Owner & Host  ·  My Brown County Vacation

I’m a Brown County local, Airbnb Superhost, and Vrbo Premier Host with eight years of experience personally welcoming guests to Nashville, Indiana. I host two boutique vacation rentals — the 1891 Schoolhouse Inn and Helmsburg Homestead — and I’m involved in every detail of every stay. When I’m not welcoming guests, I’m tending the garden, loving on my chickens and border collies, or enjoying a quiet morning on the porch with coffee.

Sourced from: BrownCounty.com, MyBrownCountyVacation.com, OurBrownCounty.com