Thank you for your interest in my site, and my work.
I graduated from Kalamazoo College with a degree in Fine Arts in music. I traveled with a band professionally through high school and college, but really found my muse in working with clay and glass.
I started taking classes in ceramics in 1996 at the Jane Addams Center in Chicago. Wheel throwing came fairly natural to me, and soon I was volunteering there. I became a teacher at the studio years later, where I have taught children, beginners, and advanced students. I have also taken classes and seminars at other studios in Chicago, my favorite being Lill Street Art Center. I have had the privilege of working with many talented artists and teachers in my time with ceramics, including Christie Davis, David Stouder, Meg Biddle, Paul Lee, Karen Avery, and Greg Miln.
My love of glass is apparent in my mosaic and beaded pieces. Ever since I was a child I have been taken with the beauty of this simple and infinitely diverse material. It lends bold color and depth, more fully realizing my attempt to express the magic in our everyday lives. I am also fascinated by the sense of history and culture of the glass and beads I use. They come from all over the world giving an eclectic unity, which demonstrates humanityÕs diversity. They never cease to fill me with inspiration.
I am also deeply inspired by such artists as Vincent Van Gogh, and Antonio Gaudi, Ruth Duckworth and Dale Chihuly. They bring free flowing organic shapes to life in their work. I am very attracted to their lack of uniformity, the bold colors and their undulating movement. I try to capture this in my vessels in various ways.
Much of my work is about expressing how the individual relates to a dynamic and changing world. Energies swirl around us, sometimes very peaceful, sometimes in very convoluted and conflicting ways. Yet they all make up the fiber of who we are as individuals, a community, and a world.
May you find some inspiration in this site, and never cease to be taken up with the magic all around us.
