My mission is to create pottery for daily use that brings beauty to the home. Since I am exploring the way pottery incorporates function with visual pleasure, I have chosen porcelain as my medium. Porcelain has a history of being a luxurious material, and its whiteness shows off where transparent glaze pools over imprinted and touched surfaces.

I use the wheel as a method of making because it helps me to work quickly which allows me to produce a range of symmetrical shapes to alter. I work through ideas leaving my process visible. As I work I cut away parts of the form and save them to reattach later as ornament. All the parts come from the original form. When parts that are cut come from the same beginning are reattached all the lines in the form repeat. This allows all the places where the clay is cut to relate to where clay is attached which unifies the form.

The addition of imprinted patterns to a form creates an opportunity for the form to be enhanced or masked. The form begins to stretch as I add each imprint. Sometimes a form seems to be masked by a surface pattern. However the form can also be exaggerated by a pattern that enhances its curves.

I imagine different types of people and try to make work that will reflect their style. These personas become a tool to develop ideas about making cups, pitchers, bowls, vases, and platters that will bring pleasure to others. Each finished piece becomes a representation of the type of person I’ve imagined to be the owner.

Biography: I was born in 1984 in New Hartford, New York. My family has a tradition of creating art by hand and my love for crafts began when I was very young. However, I lost touch with that love during the ten years I spent as a gymnast. When I stepped away from gymnastics in 2001, I was given the opportunity to throw on the potter’s wheel. Because of the understanding of balance that gymnastics gave me, I was able to learn quickly how throw on the wheel. dfasdfasdfdsf

Instantly, I became very passionate about creating functional objects and in 2003, I began college at Alfred University, New York State College of Ceramics. During my fours years in Alfred, I studied drawing, painting, printmaking, woodworking, and glass casting. All of these courses enhanced and inspired my main focus, functional pottery. After graduating college in 2007, I spent the summer living in the Adirondack Mountains, where I worked at the Old Forge Center for the Arts. My desire to travel led me to drive across the country. I moved in with my sister who was living in Los Angeles. In L.A., I taught pottery classes at Bitter Root Pottery. During my time at Bitter Root Pottery, I was also featured as a demonstrating potter on the History Channel series The Universe. While I was living in Los Angeles, I began to feel as though the fast paced environment was draining my creative energy, so I decided to move back to western New York, where I could live in the country and focus completely on my craft. In January of 2008, I discovered the Wellsville Creative Arts Center, in Wellsville, New York, which is my current location. The Art Center provides the perfect atmosphere and studio facilities for me to begin my career as a professional potter.