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Artists Statement

The way work in my studio harkens back to the Arts and Crafts movement at the turn of the century. Like the women who worked for the Rookwood and Newcomb Potteries, I decorate one vessel at a time. They did not throw or fire the work; each sat at a small desk in a beautiful room with huge palladium windows decorating one piece of pottery at a time. They worked in long full skirts and blouses with high starched collars under immaculate studio conditions. At that time, “it was assumed that a professional male potters would be needed to work the clay, throw the pots, fire the kiln and handle the glazing.” I work in jeans and T-shirts in my small sunny studio and do all of the jobs needed to produce my large hand built vessels myself. 

Ellsworth Woodward, instrumental in shaping Newcomb pottery emphasized, “the desirability of an artist using her own environment as a starting point for any creation.”  Historically in the Orient they most often took their subject matter from nature. Clay has always been a medium that can receive impressions and I often take full advantage of this characteristic by rearranging botanicals and other items, like shells when I layout a design on the moist clay.  I took printmaking classes, and I worked at the Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida; so my compositions in clay reflect a blending of my experience and interests. 

There is an architectural aspect when  building these pieces. I can altering the individual components which result in a variety of sizes and shapes. The glazing process brushed by hand is detailed, delicate and time consuming with several types of glazes (multi-glazed) and various firing temperatures (multi-fired) used per piece. They are water tight and can hold enormous floral arrangements (being purposely weighted on the bottom to remain stable) or easily wired for

Wonderful lamps.

Teaching Pottery to Children

Set up a small studio at the Watauga Youth Network for high school students, Boone NC. 

Set up the first ‘Children Gallery’ displaying work by students of local public art teachers 

Jones House Community Center Boone, NC. 

Clay for Kids class Caldwell Arts Council  Lenoir, NC.

Taught pottery to children in the the Landship House (a group home) Blowing Rock, NC.

Art Teacher 7-9th grade local Christian school. 

Ceramics Background:

Michele Tondi - Atlanta Parks and Recreation

Richard Palmer - Georgia State University

Rick Berman - Callanwolde Arts Center, Atlanta, Ga.

Dean Adylotte - Scorpio Rising, Athens, Ga

Bob Westervelt - Hambidge Arts Center, N. Ga.

Frank Colson - Colson’s School of Art, Sarasota, Fla

Hal Reigger - Kiln Room, Foscoe, NC

Glenn Pheifer - ASU Art Dept., Boone, NC

Angela Fina - Penland School of Crafts, Spruce Pine, NC

Steve Howell - Sertoma Arts Center, Raleigh, NC

Pete Pinnell - Odyssey Center for the Arts, Asheville, NC 

Hal Reigger - Kiln Room, Foscoe, NC

1992 B.S. Arts Management  1972 B.S. Elementary Education  Art History Concentration  University of Florida

Appalachian State University    Gainesville, Florida

Boone, NC 

Appalachian State University Purchase Award 

Pen/Ink - ‘Another War’ 1992

Potter Mark Symbolism

Asian Christian symbol consisting of three parts

middle two small flowers represent the Birth of Christ,

below two descending triangles representing his Death,

above stylized rainbow representing his Resurrection.

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