Daily I create with my hands, exploring, experimenting, moving the clay, making a living. For me being a potter is a lifestyle; I make pots, take a tea break, create some more, take a bike ride, go back to the studio. I watch the woods and the changing seasons from my studio porch. For me, making and using pots is learning to see, to pause, to share, to connect.

In the studio, I enjoy repetition as much as the exploration of new forms and surface designs. I use the wheel as well as hand build my forms. My work is exploring the balance of natural patina and color. The natural patina is clay showing its rawness. Color brings energy and joy. My surface designs are inspired by children’s art and perspective. The bright color is influenced by summer flowers and the art and culture of Latin America. My pots are fired in an electric kiln to cone 6.

I am a self-taught potter who gained my foundation in ceramics from the great potters who taught at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in the early 2000s. I started my journey with a studio space at the Floyd Center for the Arts in Floyd where I made and sold work and benefitted from resources and kilns as a new artist. I create at my home studio and gallery and I am a member of 16 Hands, a group of fine craftspeople who put on two yearly studio tours in the mountains of Floyd.

As well as being a potter, I am a Zen student, tea afficionado, cyclist, and enjoy goofing around in the sun with my family.