煤球，1978年出生于美国科罗拉多州丹佛市，2001年学士毕业于蒙大拿州立大学，2005年硕士毕业于美国蒙大拿大学。现工作生活于中国景德镇。
Ryan Mitchell是一位居住在景德镇的美国独立艺术家，在那里他建立了工作室实践，并以”煤球”为笔名。煤球以朴实而富有表现力的粘土雕塑作品而闻名。早在大学时煤球已成为美国蒙大拿当代陶瓷艺术环境的活跃分子，他拥有美国蒙大拿大学艺术硕士学位。煤球的雕塑追求所用材料的表现潜力，将不同的文化和历史表现形式联系起来。煤球的作品探索了自然与人文主义的交叉点，这些交叉点直观地编织了图像、雕塑、器皿和抽象概念。
Ryan Mitchell是联合国教科文组织国际陶艺学会IAC会员，曾担任陶溪川景德镇国际工作室创始艺术总监，景德镇陶瓷大学学术国际学术策展人;自2007年以来，煤球一直是一位活跃而杰出的国际艺术家，他为东方艺术对话和交流建立和搭建平台。
其作品被西安贾平凹文化艺术博物馆、景德镇陶瓷博物馆、景德镇陶溪川美术馆、韩国通仁基金会、西安福乐国际陶艺博物馆、美国蒙塔纳艺术文化博物馆、澳大利亚国立大学、醴陵谷陶瓷美术馆、广东石湾陶瓷博物馆等海内外众多国际公共机构及私人收藏。

Born 1978. Ryan Mitchell is an independent American artist based in Jingdezhen where he established a studio practice and moniker penned ‘Coal Ball’. Known for earthy expressive sculptural works in clay; Mitchell emerged as an active part of the contemporary ceramic arts environ amid the mountains of Montana, where he holds an MFA from the University of Montana Missoula. Mitchell’s sculpture pursues the expressive potential of the materials used, linking different cultural and historical representations. Mitchell’s work explores the intersections of nature and humanism that intuitively weave image, sculpture, vessel and abstraction.
As a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, the founding artistic director of Taoxichuan Jingdezhen International Studio, as well as an academic International curator for Jingdezhen Ceramic University; Mitchell has been an active and prominent international artist establishing and making platforms for bridging east-west dialogues and interchanges in the arts since 2007.
His works have been collected by numerous international public institutions and private collectors, including Jia Pingwa Museum of Art and Literature, China Jingdezhen Ceramic Art Museum,Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue,Tong-In Foundation Korea,Fu Le International Ceramic Art Museum,Montana Museum of Art and Culture,Australia National University,Liling Valley Ceramic Art Museum,Guangdong Shiwan Ceramics Museum.