Recently finished up my residency at The Clay Studio Of Missoula in 2022 from which I jumped off the ground into opening my own private studio space in Missoula with a few rentable spaces.
The older we get the more reflective we become. After looking over older work compared to newer, and trying to remember the state of mind in which a piece was created; I can see the connection between mentality and expulsion of emotions into my works is becoming more and more clear.
My work is done in clay because I feel it is the most malleable, responsive material that directly transcends my thoughts, ideas, and desires. I have always been drawn to clay; making cups out of mud as a child and leaving them to crumble in the garage during a hot Missouri summer is a favorite and frequent memory. I was born and raised in the suburbs of St.Louis, allowing for ample experience with the turbulent seasons- which inevitably drove me south where it was not only hot but really hot. My mother has always been the creative type and encouraged our every exploration in the arts while my father's direct influence is on my love and obsession with nature, decay, ocean life and biology. Privileged is our generation as one of the last before the huge internet and technology boom, for our waking hour as children was spent outside, in the woods or the beach. Our family's beach house on Topsail Island, North Carolina, served as a sweet escape to another world it seemed. Spending summers fishing, playing in the surf and swimming in the tides of the Atlantic certainly influences the aesthetics of my work and daily life. A constant reminder of how lucky a childhood we had to grow up in; land locked winter environment and escape the summers by the southern sea.
Naturally I attended a coastal school for College; UNCW was nearest our beach utopia and the obvious choice. However, lacking a BFA program, I transferred to Charlotte to pursue my degree. UNCC proved to be a contemporary art hub in the folk art surroundings of North Carolina. After studying abroad in Sydney, Australia, I graduated with my BFA in Ceramics and was accepted at the University of Miami for my Masters in Fine Art with a teaching assistantship. Unfortunately, the University of Miami didn't have what I needed to achieve my goals and so, after much debate and sadness, I transferred to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. I am now a proud holder of an MFA in Ceramics!
During my thesis show in March of 2018 I was invited and accepted an artist in residence position at Studio 740 with the magnanimous Beth Cavener! I was in Helena Montana for the two years and loved every minute. In 2020 I accepted a long term resident position at The Clay Studio of Missoula which completed in the fall of 2022. I anticipate staying in Missoula for quite a while- this is a very special and art-centric mountain town.