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I came to clay as a second vocation. For 10 years I taught high school biology. I worked to cultivate in my students a desire to explore the world while also encouraging scientific inquiry. I find these two skills serve me just as well in the studio. I left teaching and returned to the classroom as a student at Haywood Community College completing an Associates Degree in Professional Crafts. From there I moved to Floyd, Virginia and worked as an apprentice to Silvie Granatelli, studio potter. I now live and work in my studio/home on the Blue Ridge Parkway, building a life as a studio potter in Floyd, Virginia. It is a conscious choice for me each day to make pots, to entice others to use and share these forms. The choices of where we place our money and energy is an economic statement, but there is also an emotional component and larger cultural significance when people choose to support an artist’s work or make the commitment to create a life as an artist. These decisions shape our world of external objects as well as our inner sense of self. The clear purpose of a bowl - the proxy for hands cupped together holding, carrying, containing that which will nourish our bodies and our minds. My mind and hands shape each piece with those intentions and as the pots move out into the world, my touch is extended to the person who takes that piece into their own home to use.
My pottery is made of porcelain clay and is fired in an electric and gas kiln to cone 10 (~2300F). I seek to infuse my work with a sense of movement; the soft stroke of the hand giving comfort and thanks through use. All pots are safe for microwave, dishwasher and oven.
I came to clay as a second vocation. For 10 years I taught high school biology. I worked to cultivate in my students a desire to explore the world while also encouraging scientific inquiry. I find these two skills serve me just as well in the studio. I left teaching and returned to the classroom as a student at Haywood Community College completing an Associates Degree in Professional Crafts. From there I moved to Floyd, Virginia and worked as an apprentice to Silvie Granatelli, studio potter. I now live and work in my studio/home on the Blue Ridge Parkway, building a life as a studio potter in Floyd, Virginia. It is a conscious choice for me each day to make pots, to entice others to use and share these forms. The choices of where we place our money and energy is an economic statement, but there is also an emotional component and larger cultural significance when people choose to support an artist’s work or make the commitment to create a life as an artist. These decisions shape our world of external objects as well as our inner sense of self. The clear purpose of a bowl - the proxy for hands cupped together holding, carrying, containing that which will nourish our bodies and our minds. My mind and hands shape each piece with those intentions and as the pots move out into the world, my touch is extended to the person who takes that piece into their own home to use.
My pottery is made of porcelain clay and is fired in an electric and gas kiln to cone 10 (~2300F). I seek to infuse my work with a sense of movement; the soft stroke of the hand giving comfort and thanks through use. All pots are safe for microwave, dishwasher and oven.