Bio

Painting has always come naturally to me as a form of self-expression.  Though I  never pursued painting professionally, there were periods when I would paint everyday for months. A number of years back, I attempted a ceramics throwing class, but couldn’t prevent the clay from flying off the wheel. Convinced that clay just wasn’t my medium, I never went back.

So it was with trepidation that I agreed to take a hand-building ceramics class with a friend. From the first day of class (at the Berkshire Arts Center, in Stockbridge, MA), when I put my hands into the clay, I felt the need to keep working at it. Right away, I saw that clay, though malleable, had its own requirements, and I knew that I needed to learn the material.

That was 2016, and I have kept working at it, more seriously than I could have imagined. I have had the opportunity to study with Paula Shalan, whose distinct black and gray smoke-fired work inspired me. Lisa Chicoyne, a sculptor and conceptual artist, has helped me look at my work in unexpected ways, and freed me with her belief in experimentation. Kate Missett has deepened my interest in Native American ceramics, and broadened my perspective. Each of these ceramicists and others have offered new possibilities and influenced the way I think about the work I create, and I am grateful to them.

The need I felt in that first class to keep working has fueled the intensity of my work, and I continue to pursue my original aim, to learn the material.