Edith Heath and Peter Voulkos led the way, along with the hippies who flocked here in search of freedom from The Man and formal china. Now there’s a pottery studio on every corner, and local artisans are mass-producing our tradition for retail giants like Barneys and Martha Stewart. For true pottery fanatics, though, a few places stand out.

This Illinois native graduated from the California College of the Arts in 1977 and stayed on to open Aletha Soulé Studio in Sebastopol. Her incre­ased success—Soulé’s tableware is now available at shops around the country—requires the use of molds, but the artist insists on building each prototype by hand. The result is an appealing unevenness that mimics natural forms. “I’m really drawn to texture—rocks, plants—where I can look at the surface and what happens to it when it reaches the edge,” Soulé says. 707-829-0146, Sebastopol, soulestudio.com

The regional flora and fauna depicted in Gordon Bryan’s art tiles at Blue Slide Art Tile are inspired by his obsessions: surfing, bird watching, and fishing. He’s also a total perfectionist. During production, the simplest tile may be handled 25 to 30 times, but the artist is the final judge, and imperfections are simply not allowed. Says Bryan, “I have my eye on everything that goes out of this studio.” blueslidearttile.com

The Berkeley Potters Guild, the granddaddy of Berkeley’s professional potters’ organizations, is a co-op, but there’s no evidence of groupthink when it comes to style. Everything from Japanese-inspired tableware to jewelry and whimsical sculpture is represented, in mediums ranging from low-fire earthenware to high-fire porcelain. A few of the potters, like Kimi Masui and Cuong Ta, sell their wares at San Francisco museum shops, as well as in the co-op’s 400-square-foot gallery (open Saturdays and some additional days). 731 Jones St., Berkeley, 510-524-7031, berkeleypotters.com

Trax Gallery specializes in utilitarian objects from well-known American potters—like the earthy, architectural jars by Berkeley’s Mary Law, and the cups, pitchers, and vases decorated with motifs like letters and birds, by Julia Galloway of Rochester, N.Y.­—and draws collectors from all over the world. (Owner Sandy Simon, herself a potter, once studied with American pottery great Warren MacKenzie.) 1812 5th St., Berkeley, 510-540-8729, traxgallery.com

When Martha Stewart wants to feature an American pottery expert on her show, she calls Naomi Murdach. He’s the auth­ority on 20th-century American pottery, and his Polk Street shop, Naomi’s, is the definitive stop for collectors and museum curators from around the world. It carries a mind-boggling inventory of colorful wares, like Bauer, Roseville, and Hall, as well as a large selection by Russel Wright and the original work of Eva Zeisel, whose sinuous ’60s shapes are now being reissued. 1817 Polk St., 415-775-1207