My passion for ceramics didn’t come until I was in college. I had many other passions growing up, but art was not one of them. Thankfully I had a wonderful professor that allowed me to pursue my passions in a way of my own choosing. This, coupled with the generous apprenticeship I took after college with a ceramic artist in Denver, and spaces shared with other ceramic artists have allowed me to continue to develop my craft. These experiences have shaped my current passions for ceramics.
I began selling my ceramic work in 2006. A majority of my work was sold in open air art markets throughout Colorado. My work consisted mostly of functional stoneware, and large decorative vessels. After almost ten years of producing and selling my stoneware ceramic art, I decided to start teaching art. I continued to make and sell some ceramic art but only when commissioned, or selling existing inventory. Throughout the past couple of years I have begun to experiment and create ceramic wares using colored clay along with the usual white clay I have used in the past. This marbling of colored clay that happens through the process of creating my pottery allows each piece to be unique and individual.
Throwing my ceramic pieces on a wheel allows for a relative continuity among my functional wares. Each like piece is created by using an equal weight of clay, however I also enjoy the end user being able to see slight differences in each piece. Sets can be easily assembled from my work, or by commission. I take pride in providing something truly handmade and unique. In previous years I used traditional high fire glazes to color the surfaces of my pottery. While I still do use some colored glazing techniques I began to see that using glazes was also taking some of the handmade uniqueness away from each of my pieces. So I began experimenting and it brought my work to where it is today, using the colored and marbled clay to enhance the one of a kind look of each piece.
I draw inspiration for my color choices from the natural world around me in Colorado. Also being a teacher has influenced some of my color choices to include much more vibrant color choices that I have witnessed while teaching. The functional ceramic works are all dishwasher, microwave and oven safe, unless otherwise stated in the description.