I am a ceramic artist from Florence, South Carolina. I received a M.A. in Arts Administration from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and a B.F.A. in Art, emphasis in Ceramics, from Shorter University. I worked as the Ceramic Arts Technician at SCAD in Savannah, GA, for eight years, then I moved to Evansville, IN, in 2016 to complete an artist residency for the New Harmony Clay Project.
My work has been exhibited nationally in galleries at Baltimore Clayworks, Barrett Art Center, Bemidji Community Art Center, Lamar Dodd Center, Terra Incognito Studios, University of South Carolina Beaufort and other venues. I was an UncommonGoods Ceramic Design Challenge Finalist in 2011, and in 2015, I worked as a development intern at Baltimore Clayworks. |
Later that year, I founded the Savannah Clay Community, and initiated the “SIP: A Ceramic Cup Show.” I worked as its project manager for the rest of 2016 until moving to Indiana.
I also enjoy teaching, and I have led numerous workshops in Georgia and Indiana guiding participants in various techniques to help them explore clay. I am currently a full time ceramic artist in Evansville, IN, and the Program Manager for the New Harmony Clay Project. You can find my work at the following galleries: New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art (IN), Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana (IN) and Baltimore Clayworks (MD). |
Creating handmade functional pots is a need that will probably never leave me. Pots make us pay attention. When a hand-made handle is uncomfortable, you then begin to notice how a comfortable pot feels. It opens a dialogue between friends, associates or family. Pots teach us about ourselves. It’s a new experience with each piece. As a user, we realize our preferences for particular shapes, sizes, colors or textures. We become more familiar with our food and how it interacts with a certain shape or texture.
My ceramic work embodies comfort and youthful delight. I seek to capture humorous observations and playful details that reconstruct thoughts of past experiences and events. I am interested in various interpretations of domesticity, shelter and freedom. Using memories as an influence, whether it’s fond recollections of childhood bedtime stories, imaginative games or daily chores, I reconstruct visual scenes to express these ideas in my work. I hope that through my artistic choices of color, line and shape, I can merge these concepts with contemporary design to produce a final stimulating, functional piece.
I feel that my close connection to family and home has naturally led me to create functional ceramics. I grew up in the rural South with my family, where I collected the eggs from our chickens, picked wild blueberries from woods and shucked corn from our garden. Life was simple and good, and through form and decoration, I want my work to be a reminder of this time.
My work has evolved from the atmospheric firing I once made, to a highly decorated electric kiln firing. I use a variety of techniques to create and decorate my surfaces. I wheel throw, hand build or use molds to create my forms and fire the pieces a variety of times to achieve a particular look. The surfaces are treated with underglazes, inlay, sgraffito, carving, slip trailing, glazes, decals or lusters to achieve a particular look.
I feel that my close connection to family and home has naturally led me to create functional ceramics. I grew up in the rural South with my family, where I collected the eggs from our chickens, picked wild blueberries from woods and shucked corn from our garden. Life was simple and good, and through form and decoration, I want my work to be a reminder of this time.
My work has evolved from the atmospheric firing I once made, to a highly decorated electric kiln firing. I use a variety of techniques to create and decorate my surfaces. I wheel throw, hand build or use molds to create my forms and fire the pieces a variety of times to achieve a particular look. The surfaces are treated with underglazes, inlay, sgraffito, carving, slip trailing, glazes, decals or lusters to achieve a particular look.