Moon Raven

This platter was made as a gift for my friend Wendy. Photo by Guy Nicol.

Another bowl

Photo by Guy Nicol

Brown & black bowl with scrafitto

My latest series of work features this brown and black color pallet with scraffito illustrations. Photo by Guy Nicol.

Green Pitcher

This stoneware pitcher was created for a show at Vessel Gallery in Philadelphia. The show, "Double Vision" was with my former studio mate Lorin Klein Costolo from Lillstreet in Chicago. I created this piece at Riverrun Center in Mc Naughton, Wisconsin while I was working as the "Live-In" Apprentice. It is one of my first successful pieces fired at cone 6 in an electric kiln. Although this is how I fire today, at the time it was traumatic to move from high fire reduction to mid-range oxidation.

The pitcher appears in "500 Pitchers" by Lark Books. Photo by Guy Nicol.

Green Sprigged Platter

This platter was created in 2003 for my first solo show — Setting the Stage, at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago. It is white stoneware, fired in reduction to cone 10 in a gas kiln. It was wheelthrown. The center of the platter contains dozens of individual clay button spriggs that were applied one at a time.

It appeared in the May 2004 issue of Ceramics Monthy when I was selected as one of their Emerging Artists of 2004. It also appears in the new book "500 Plates and Chargers" produced by Lark Books. The platter remains a personal favorite and a part of my private collection. Photo by Guy Nicol.

Welcome

I "played with clay" on and off in college and beyond, but my true potter’s journey began when I signed up for a wheelthrowing class at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago. I was seeking a creative outlet and distraction from my job in graphic design. Within the first 10 weeks it became obvious that coming to Lillstreet was more than a way to pass the time and meet new people. I was a potter, starting down a path I hadn’t anticipated.

For 8 years, I learned from the instructors, peers, and visiting artists who came through Lillstreet. One of the advantages of being an urban potter was the opportunity to work within a large community. The support, encouragement, and camaraderie I experienced at Lillstreet was pivotal to my development as an artist.

In April of 2003 I moved to Wisconsin’s northwoods to pursue pottery full time. I took a position at Riverrun Center for the Arts in McNaughton, Wisconsin. As Resident Artist at Riverrun, I was able to work daily in the studio, teach classes, and learn how to operate a gallery. I had intended my move “up north” to be temporary, but in the fall of 2004, this self-described “city girl” decided to make the northwoods her permanent home. I got a "day job" and eventually bought my “little blue house in the woods” on Pigeon Road in Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin.



I built my studio (Pigeon Road Pottery) in 2005. It’s a lovely space to work in – filled with mementos from my old studio & friends. I'm not a full-time potter yet, but I realize how lucky I am to be on my way. I live surrounded by incredible natural beauty and I've found a new community of artists as encouraging and supportive as those I left behind.