About the Artist

I’m an artist and teacher working primarily in ceramics. I make sculptures and functional pottery using a combination of hand building and wheel-thrown forms.

I’m drawn to the tactile and malleable nature of clay, and I specialize in sgraffito and carving. These surface design techniques provide an opportunity for me to immerse myself in pattern and detail. My work features expressive lines and bold gestures, with an emphasis on texture, intuitive mark-making, and clearly showing the artist’s hand.

I hope my work will resonate with those who appreciate texture, pattern, and the interplay of surface with three-dimensional form.

I earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art, philosophy, and anthropology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006 and a master’s degree in art education from Chatham University in 2010.

About the Process

My ceramic pieces begin as raw clay, either thrown on the pottery wheel or built by hand. After I’ve formed and joined all the components, I smooth the surface of the clay. For my sgraffito work, I paint the surface of the piece with underglaze or slip before carving. I do all carving and painting by hand without the use of stencils or transfers. After I finish any surface decoration, the piece needs to dry slowly before its first firing. I then apply glaze and fire the piece at a higher temperature, resulting in a finished ceramic stoneware piece with a smooth, glassy surface.