Working in clay allows my hands to move freely, creating a passage to illustrate emotion. I approach my ceramic forms and surfaces with a playful exploration of altering, texturing, carving, and glazing techniques. Whimsical imagery is freehandedly carved into the surface of a wheel thrown pot using a Japanese inlay technique called Mishima. Hand painted under glaze accents highlight the illustrative design, creating a narrative that is reminiscent of a storybook.  Clay vessels are a blank page, awaiting the carved ‘doodle’. The ceramic form is also a foundation to inlay texture, to poke, prod and alter basic form- introducing a sense of play with colorful glazes and stains. Each piece begins as a basic recognizable form of function and shifts into an object of curiosity, evoking that sense of childlike wonderment. My forms shape and shift into objects that take on a personality of their own and deliver an experience of joy as they are used in daily life. 

As a child, into adolescence and all the way to where I am now- there is creativity that emerges everyday. Through painting, drawing, music metals or mud- there was and continues to be an art project in motion and a head full of ideas. Imagination can take one to such magical places. Growing up, I was surrounded by supportive creative people in my family. My grandmother was a painter and my mother a mixed media artist and woodworker. This creativity nurtured my own artistic journey. I remember spending summers in the Colorado mountains at our family cabin atop my ‘drawing rock’, sketching, painting and also working away with glass arts and sculpture in my parents garage into the wee hours of the morning. It wasn’t until I first touched clay in college that I found the medium that fed my soul to its fullest. That was 14 years ago and I am still learning, growing and feeding my soul daily with my hands in clay and an imagination that carries my work to new places. Currently, I teach workshops and classes in Denver, the Gunnison Art Center and the Crested Butte Clay Studio. My most recent endeavor was opening Wonderland Clayworks in Gunnison, CO- a community studio space and gallery that ignites the imagination and encourages a playful creative approach to clay through private classes and workshops.