Pottery: I am a functional potter with experience in craft, design, wood-firing, gas-firing, gallery sales and studio production. My education in this field was the traditional apprenticeship / immersion route and I studied under and worked for Dan Vito of Fireborn Studios in Pittsburgh, was a studio apprentice with John Bogard at Planet X Pottery and was a Resident Artist for the Ceramics Studio at Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington, PA. I co founded two pottery studios in Vancouver WA and an apprenticeship program for teenagers, and have volunteered in the public and home school communities.

Watercolor and Folk Art: I grew up making homemade cards, decorating paper and sketching, and recording the natural world in field books and nature logs, going on to study watercolor painting in Maine on Vinalhaven Island with local celebrated artists including Lydia Sparrow. As a teenager, I apprenticed under James Langley, learning to mix paints, make gesso from scratch and to stretch canvases. Throughout adulthood I’ve continued to draw and paint, all the while illustrating Soul Gardening Journal since 2009. I find inspiration in folk art and patterns from my childhood bookshelf, the beautiful illustrations from Caelum et Terra magazine, and the pages of the picture books by inspiring, humorous artists Helen Oxenbury, Mairi Hedderwick and Marla Frazee. The kitchen-table art sessions with my children continue to be a highlight of my mothering days.

Philosophy: Merging form and function, I create dishes for everyday use, therefore bringing beauty into our daily lives and ordinary motions. My love of pottery is rooted in my lifelong love of tea and the cradling of mugs. This became such a grounding routine in my day that I was determined to create the dishes that I wanted to hold. My love for wind, weather and water is the spirit breathing life into my clay work, and I am passionate about gathering, togetherness, nourishment and display, encouraging us all to slow down, connect, give, and receive.