Shirley Brauker poses with her pottery, “A Horse Named Lightning Bear.” Each of Brauker’s pieces tells a story, often through the use of animal symbolism. She shared her techniques and style with students in Sitka, Alaska, recently as part of a visiting artists series in the small coastal town.

SITKA, Alaska — Local artist Shirley Brauker tells stories through her pottery.

Her style is unique, incorporating cut-outs and animal images to weave tales of Native American lore, environmental significance and Brauker’s personal memories.

Having gained some notoriety for her technique, Brauker recently had the opportunity to spend a week in the tiny fishing town of Sitka, Alaska, lecturing to college, high school and middle school students about pottery making and story telling.

The invitation came from University of Alaska professor Jamie Autrey, who uses a documentary featuring Brauker, “Woodland Traditions: The Art of Three Native Americans,” in his art appreciation class.

“Shirley was a part of a group of three Native American artists from the woodlands traditions that a video had been made about back in the ’80s,” said Autrey. He looked her up through her affiliation with Central Michigan University.

Autrey characterized Sitka as a “pretty artsy community.” And while it is small, he said it is “cosmopolitan,” incorporating the cultures of the Native Americans, white folk, Russians, Mexican immigrants and Polynesian ancestors.

Because of the university, the scenery and the culture mix, Autrey and others encourage Sitka residents to soak up the aesthetic. Brauker was one in a series of artists that chose to visit the town this year.

Brauker and her boyfriend Bill Sattison left for Sitka Friday, Oct. 15, arriving on a precarious airport runway Oct. 16. The short runway necessitated a rather harrowing stop in which the pilot screeched on the brakes with the runway running out underneath the craft and the ocean the only sight from either wing.

“We continued forward until we reached the end of the pavement, and then squealed around a sharp turn on what seemed like two wheels. We taxied back to the terminal, and I gave a sigh of relief. The lady next to me was saying a prayer and crossing herself,” said Brauker.

Sitka — population 8,500 — features the Sitka branch of the University of Alaska, some art shops and a smorgasbord of environmental treasures.

“We saw whales, eagles,” said Brauker, who spend much of her days at Sitka’s schools lecturing and the evenings conducting a week-long workshop at the university, called “Storytelling in Clay.”

Sattison had more time for sight seeing. One day he scrabbled his way to the top of a mountain that acts as a scenic backdrop for the town. The adventure took five hours of climbing over rocks, pulling himself along by cables or ropes and crawling over slippery roots.

“I gave him my digital camera to take some pictures,” Brauker said. “I can’t imagine what he said when he got to the top and realized I had forgotten to put the batteries in the camera.”

As Sattison communed with whales and took advantage of hiking trails, Brauker met some students interested in learning about her art form.

“It was really, really rewarding to give that information to those people,” said Brauker. Her students carved their own pieces throughout the week, anticipating a story-telling session on Friday when they would relate the tale their pottery told.

“I relayed stories on how I get my inspiration,” Brauker said. Her ideas come from old legends, stories and the people and things she encounters in her life.

Possibly a piece of pottery will come from Brauker’s Sitka experience. Located between Anchorage and Seattle, the island is nestled amongst seascapes and snow-topped mountains. A volcano is among the natural structures surrounding the town.

Bald eagles perch in trees, a common sight in the coastal town. Whales leap from the choppy ocean occasionally or throw spouts of mist from the water as the giant mammals come up for air.

The island also is the home to the National Totem Pole Park. There is an eclectic, primarily volunteer public broadcasting station, RAVEN, on which Brauker appeared on a show one day during her visit. She described the experience much like the “Northern Exposure” series, where the deejay speaks from a small, wood-framed booth in a run-down radio office.

Brauker said she thoroughly enjoyed the trip, bringing back plenty of mementos and four wooden carvings. Autrey reciprocated that by noting that her presentations were very much enjoyed by those who attended.