My journey with clay began with my mother slip casting in our basement during my childhood. It smelled like earth. My mother was a supplier for a ceramics store. She would let me paint pieces occasionally, but I didn’t want to paint what was already created. I wanted to create my own figures. I used to love to scrape up the scraps of clay and make little animals.
After I finished a degree in Education from Northeastern University in Boston I taught first grade at a Catholic school and I needed a creative outlet. I immediately returned to art and started taking continuing Ed classes at the Museum of Fine Arts school.
Becoming a potter takes time, and that was fine with me, as long as I was in the studio I was content. For seven years I was a studio assistant: four years for Rob Rossel, two for Lloyd Hamovit and one for Iris Minc. After taking a wood fire work shop with Simon Levin at Arrowmont center for craft in Gatlinburg Tennesee four years ago I set up a studio in my home.
Today I wood fire in the New Hampshire Potter’s Guild community kiln in Deerfield, NH and Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine. I have been a juried member of the League of NH Craftsmen since 2012.
I work with wood fire stoneware and porcelain. I make functional pottery using the wheel and hand building. I apply several layers of colored slip to the surface of the pots and then carve lively sgraffito images of sea turtles, tree silhouettes and musical instruments. I love bringing the surface to life. My inspiration comes from nature. In my travels I’ve come across sea turtles and coral reefs alive with pools of tropical fish. It’s in these places that I gather corals and shells for texture tools. At home, I enjoy spending time in the woods hiking and camping. Trees and natural grasses give stimulation to my pottery designs. I’m not meant to be inside much!
To finish my work I fire in wood burning kilns. My crew and I stoke the kiln for 30 to 50 hours. I use very little glaze on the outside of my pots. The physical aspect of wood fire suits me and my pots. I’m enchanted by the flame and how it creates flashing-- the flame hitting the clay-- and brings to the surface the minerals of the clay. That’s where the color comes from brown, oranges and purples. There’s always something to learn with clay, you get different effects by stacking the pots different ways.
I live in a bustling household full of live music, instruments and sports with my three children and husband. When I’m not stacking or unloading the kiln, I’m watching my children perform music, dance and compete in football and track.
After I finished a degree in Education from Northeastern University in Boston I taught first grade at a Catholic school and I needed a creative outlet. I immediately returned to art and started taking continuing Ed classes at the Museum of Fine Arts school.
Becoming a potter takes time, and that was fine with me, as long as I was in the studio I was content. For seven years I was a studio assistant: four years for Rob Rossel, two for Lloyd Hamovit and one for Iris Minc. After taking a wood fire work shop with Simon Levin at Arrowmont center for craft in Gatlinburg Tennesee four years ago I set up a studio in my home.
Today I wood fire in the New Hampshire Potter’s Guild community kiln in Deerfield, NH and Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine. I have been a juried member of the League of NH Craftsmen since 2012.
I work with wood fire stoneware and porcelain. I make functional pottery using the wheel and hand building. I apply several layers of colored slip to the surface of the pots and then carve lively sgraffito images of sea turtles, tree silhouettes and musical instruments. I love bringing the surface to life. My inspiration comes from nature. In my travels I’ve come across sea turtles and coral reefs alive with pools of tropical fish. It’s in these places that I gather corals and shells for texture tools. At home, I enjoy spending time in the woods hiking and camping. Trees and natural grasses give stimulation to my pottery designs. I’m not meant to be inside much!
To finish my work I fire in wood burning kilns. My crew and I stoke the kiln for 30 to 50 hours. I use very little glaze on the outside of my pots. The physical aspect of wood fire suits me and my pots. I’m enchanted by the flame and how it creates flashing-- the flame hitting the clay-- and brings to the surface the minerals of the clay. That’s where the color comes from brown, oranges and purples. There’s always something to learn with clay, you get different effects by stacking the pots different ways.
I live in a bustling household full of live music, instruments and sports with my three children and husband. When I’m not stacking or unloading the kiln, I’m watching my children perform music, dance and compete in football and track.