My love of working with my hands began at a very early age at North County School in the Adirondacks. This is where I first discovered the arts room — a space filled with looms, potters wheels and art supplies. In my free time, if I wasn’t making something in the arts room, I was at the barn where I could be around horses.
During college in Boulder, I apprenticed at a hand weaving studio, working with other weavers and learning the intricacies of pattern design and color combinations. From there I moved to South Carolina to participate in a pioneering program sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts, teaching weaving in the rural south on a semi tractor-trailer that moved from town to town each month, bringing pottery and weaving to local communities.
Looking for more depth and instruction, I found my way to Syracuse University, for a masters degree in the textiles. Returning briefly to the south, I was determined to find my way back to the northeast, landing in Washington DC for several years where I worked at the Folger Theater in DC in the costume department as a textile artist—creating costumes, hats, masks and accessories for their Shakespearian productions.
Moving to New York City (and having to earn a living beyond what my passion for weaving and crafts could offer) I co-founded Whirlwind Creative, an exhibition design and media production company, with my partner, David Lackey.
Giving credit where it is due, I must thank my daughters for shifting my focus from textiles to ceramics. Their after-school activities in pottery reintroduced me to the joys of working with clay. Once I took my first class to unwind from the stress of running a successful design business, I was hooked. I created a studio in our Hudson Valley home where I could work in clay and explore pottery on my own. It became my meditation and refuge from stress.
When I met Sue Kotulak, a neighbor and the owner of the Oki Doki Studio, my work in clay changed forever. The world of wood firing and the dramatic effects of atmospheric firing presented whole new avenues of exploration. The distinctive surface textures and colors produced by the interactions between ash, fire, temperature and clay opened a new world of possibilities for my work.
The community building of working with a team of other potters over the course of week-long firings, learning from guest artists, becoming steeped in the traditions of wood firing techniques — all this is what drives my interests as I continue to work with clay.
Please feel free to contact me by email if you have any questions or just want to connect.
