Thomas Hoadley was born in North Adams, MA and raised in New Hampshire. He graduated from Amherst College in 1971 with a BA in studio arts. After a short time in the world of architecture and extensive travel in Europe, he and his new wife settled in southern Vermont where he studied and later apprenticed with potter Malcolm Wright who carries on the traditions of Karatsu style wood fired pottery that he studied in Japan. Hoadley then attained a Master of Science in Ceramics at Illinois State University and subsequently moved to the Berkshires with his young family and established his pottery studio.

Hoadley’s colored porcelain art pottery, made with the Japanese technique of Nerikomi, is included in the collections of many public museums including the National Museum of American Art - Renwick Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts - Philadelphia, and the White House Craft Collection (now at the Clinton Library). Hoadley is the recipient of a Massachusetts Artists Fellowship, two NEA Grants, and a Bronze Medal at the International Ceramics Festival Mino ’95, Tajimi City, Japan. His work has been exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally and has also been featured in several books on ceramics.  He currently resides in Lanesborough, Mass. where he divides his time between ceramics and abstract painting.