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The infinite possibilities within a mound of clay have intrigued and exhilarated me since I was a teenager. I wrote my Stanford application essay about ceramics, but raising three children and pursuing careers in education and law left little time to pursue my art. Now, though, I have some time, and some of my happiest hours are spent working in my home studio (especially when I have our dog by my side).
As I “throw” (make) a pot on the wheel, the passage of time changes, and I lose myself in the process--I love the motion and the feel of the clay; I also love the constant change. When I throw a pot, my mind is calm, my heart is full, and my hands are dancing with the clay. Of course, there's something about centering the clay that has always made me feel centered myself. And when I've finished, I'm happy to have created something--often functional and I hope beautiful--from a simple ball of clay.
My work is both decorative and functional; I enjoy exploring the connections among shape, texture, and color. My pieces, of course, are most complete when they have a viewer or a user, and I hope that the forms and surfaces of my pieces allow people to sense the movement of the clay, as well as my serenity and joy. Hearing stories about people using my pottery--or seeing it in their homes--honors and thrills me.
I learned to throw at the Boulder Pottery Lab in Colorado—a place near and dear to me. In California, I have worked at the Palo Alto Art Center and more recently at Higher Fire in San Jose. Especially as a former high school teacher, I am very grateful to my many excellent ceramics instructors including Pixie Couch, Gary Clarien, and Dan Dermer. I have also benefitted tremendously from workshops with Martha Grover, Steven Hill, Ruth Easterbrook, Matt Long, Don Ellis and Randy Brodnax, Hsin-Chuen Lin, Whitney Smith, and Michael Kline.
My work is available by private sale. I also donate pieces for charitable auctions of organizations that I support. Please contact me for a studio visit, either in-person or virtual.