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About the Artist:
As kids we all have dreams about what we want to be when we grow up. Mine was to be an architect. I worked hard in school and got into the architecture program at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA. It wasn't until my fourth year there that I discovered my passion to be an artist. We had an assignment to design an art department for a college campus and the more we researched art schools the more I knew that that was where I wanted to be. With a change of majors and a change of schools I earned my BFA in ceramics from California College of Arts and Crafts (now CCA). While there I had the good fortune to study with Viola Frey, who loosened me up after all those years with a triangle and T-square, and Art Nelson who nurtured my love of throwing.
After college I went to Crete, Greece for a summer study course in Minoan art history and pottery. My two interests of architecture and art were blended so well for that summer, it was a very special time for me. My love of the Mediterranean blues came from my time on Crete and subsequent travels throughout Greece and they are still evident in the pottery I make today.
Eventually I settled in the small town of Philo, CA and opened up a studio/gallery that I call The Pot Shop. It is in an old gas station on Highway 128 next door to my husband's hardware store. It is there that I make all of my pottery on an old kick wheel that I dearly love. I enjoy meeting people traveling through Anderson Valley who stop by my studio to watch me throw and purchase my work.
Most of my work is thrown. I really enjoy the process of wedging, centering, throwing and trimming clay. It is almost meditative and hours can slip away while I work. Over the years my sculptural work has gone in many directions and it is always a treat to explore new themes. My latest interest is large-scale dragons, which have been a lot of fun to make. Because I fire in an electric kiln I've had to develop my larger work in modules that will fit into my kiln and then fit together after firing. A bit of that old architecture sneaking back in!
About the Work
All of the pottery is made from a mid-range stoneware clay and is fired in an electric kiln to cone 5, which is about 2100 degrees F.
Functional pieces can be used in the oven and the microwave oven. They can also go in the dishwasher. Pieces taken out of the refrigerator need to come to room temperature before going into the oven. Pottery can not be used on the stovetop.
My glazes are a combination of commercial glazes and my own formulas. All glazes used on functional work are lead free.
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