Stan Bitters was born in 1936 in Fresno, California to Henry Bitter and Lydia Weber. The oldest of three siblings, Stan was quiet and mostly withdrawn. He attended Fresno High where his non-conformist nature at one point got him sent to the principal’s office for illustrating a term paper on the topic of sex. He attended San Diego State, later on transferring to Otis College, and finally to UCLA where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Painting. In 1958, immediately after college, he was hired to be the principal artist at Hans Sumpf Company in Madera, California, a company known for inventing a special emulsification process for water-proofing adobe bricks. The company’s main product was adobe, but Mr. Sumpf sought the creative potential of clay as a decorative element in homes. Stan was the first artist at Hans Sumpf, and his creations—such as the birdhouse, thumb pot, and other ceramic designs—would provide the company a stylistic imprint and creative identity. In 1963, he left Hans Sumpf and started his own studio after being commissioned by Garret Eckbo to build fountains for the Fulton Mall. From there, he created pieces for Duncan Ceramics, Guaranty Bank, and other companies to create wall murals for their buildings.