I fell in love with clay in the third grade. The assignment was to sculpt a piece of fruit from clay, but asserting some artistic license, I made a fox’s head with a Bob Hope nose. It’s bright red with cobalt blue eyes, and now, from a top shelf in my studio, it watches over my current clay endeavors.

In the early ‘70s, my husband and I as newly-weds took some adult-ed classes in pottery. We liked it so much we bought a potter’s wheel and put it in a closet in our studio apartment near New York City. Our first kiln was a 55-gallon drum, and our first firing using propane and a Bunsen burner sounded more like a popcorn popper as most of our pieces exploded!

My clay education began in earnest in 1981 at Anchorage Community College. There I became an avid student, spending as much time as possible in the ceramics studio. Not only did I learn in classes from my teacher and mentor, Al Tennant, but also in open-studio sessions when students of all levels worked together and eagerly shared their knowledge and skills with anyone who asked.

After a few years, the garage became a studio, my husband and I built a wonderfully well-mannered kiln, and I obtained a business license. Enjoying the challenge of being a studio potter, I made mostly functional ware and sold at local craft fairs and galleries.

In 1988, I entered the University of South Carolina’s art program for a Master’s degree in Art Studio. It was a fabulous time of challenging new classes and experimentation with different clays and firing techniques. I will always be grateful to my teacher Tom Dimig for his patience and guidance.

During these four years of graduate school, I was introduced to America’s Southern folk pottery tradition and had the opportunity to meet many of these wonderful potters while visiting their workshops. Also, I attended the International Workshop for Ceramic Art in Tokoname in Japan for three weeks one summer. It was a heady time of working together with both Japanese potters and those from around the world, of sharing ideas and techniques, and firing a traditional Japanese wood-burning kiln.

From 1992, I spent seven years as a studio potter in rural Japan while my husband taught business classes in a university there. My studio was in the attic of our tiny, rented house in the midst of rice fields and mountains. To the amazement of our Japanese neighbors, we built a kiln in the driveway, and I slowly acquired customers from our community. During travels around the country, I always visited pottery shops, museums, and studios, enjoying the wonderful variety of Japanese pottery.

After moving to Grand Junction, Colorado in 1999, I taught a ceramics hand-building class at Mesa State College for a number of years while setting up my own studio at home. Currently, inspired by the beautiful rock cliffs and canyons of western Colorado, I am again experimenting with new designs and forms and enjoying sculpting clay pieces for my garden.