My Art Story

In 1969, while still in high school, I had an early introduction to wheel throwing, thanks to Mike Pitts who was a student teacher from the University of Georgia at the time.  I was hooked and the following two summers I attended Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Isle, Maine and Haystack-Hinckley Mountain School of Crafts in Waterville, Maine.  After attending Miami University in Ohio, I set up my first studio in Bogart, Georgia.  

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Having discovered early a dislike for crafts festivals, I chose to go the wholesale route to earn a living. Being a production potter, I shipped my wares across the US to high-end crafts and museum shops over the subsequent 24 years.  In the 70’s and 80’s, I was invited to participate in a number of solo and group shows in the Southeast. However, my focus was production and selling elegant, functional stoneware pottery.  I also explored making stoneware tiles for architectural design, creating and installing several commercial murals.

By the early 90’s, I started the transition from being a production potter to becoming a Registered Nurse. I returned to school and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Medical College of Georgia - not bad for a dyslexic potter. Over the next five years, while working at a local hospital, I attended Georgia State University earning my Master’s Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I specialized in Neurosurgery and Spine Rehabilitation for the next 11 years.

After the death of my son in 2003 and then the recession in 2008, I was led back to pottery making and ended up in the studio full time by 2012. I have since built a new studio, my fifth. I have enjoyed creating decorative and functional large platters, bowls and other ornamental pieces; however, figurative sculpture has had my full creative attention in the last several years. I’ve been storytelling through this figurative work, spinning true tales of grief, anger and rage but also heroism and inspiration.  My "Transitions" collection provided a path through grief at the loss of my son. Most recently, I have made and exhibited over 100 figurative "Warrior Women" sculptures which individually and collectively celebrate the strength, resiliency and contributions of women around the world.