My journey to ceramics has been one of patience but primarily based in longing.

I have long wanted to begin this journey but other focuses kept me away. I was finally given the opportunity to take the leap when my, now husband, enrolled in some evening classes that required a lot of time and focus. This meant I needed to find something to occupy that time for myself.

Enter artisan programs at our local community colleges.

We are based in the mountains of Western Carolina with many local artisans in the area. This makes our local community based programs roust and full of learning opportunities for those looking for a craft.

I started by signing up for 2 wheel throwing classes that I knew would occupy the time my husband would be taking his courses. Little did I know I would fall in love with this craft.

Soon after starting into my first class I was picking up on the technique of wheel throwing and began watching a lot of pottery videos on the internet to learn as much as I could from as many people as I could.

I soon started to develop a knack for sgraffito - Italian for “to scratch through”. You will still see a lot of this technique in my work today. I enjoy using it to tell a story within the piece.

Like I mentioned before, he is my “now husband” as we got married in the first year of my pottery learning. We were having a small and intimate wedding with few guests. I decided to make it a little more special and to make the drinkware for the wedding and have each Yunomi - handle less cup made to reflect the Japanese style of daily tea vessels - reflect our relationship. This meant there were many designs each telling a story of us. We had bourbon barrels - part of our first date that carries through our relationship, blueberries - we have a large grove of blueberry bushes at our mountain home, flowers we have see on hikes together, pizza slices - our first planned date. They were a piece of us to share with those we love.

I still use this technique for others. Anniversary gifts that tell some of the story of the couple - mug with their wedding colors and items to represent the season of their marriage.