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I started working in clay when I was 19 years old and visiting friends in England. Potting proved an immediate and powerful addiction. Within six months of making my first pot, I enrolled in the Harrow Studio Pottery Course, a full-time intensive training course near London. While not in school, I worked in potteries in England and Ireland. After returning to the U.S. in 1972, I potted in a studio in Crozet, Virginia and taught pottery at Piedmont Community College, for the City of Charlottesville, and in private classes.\u00a0 After Carter Smith and I married, we moved to Nelson County, Virginia, where we lived and worked from 1978 until 2016.\u00a0 Carter and I have two grown children \u2013 Alan and Rachel.\u00a0 Since he retired from making cabinets, Carter helps me run my pottery business, doing office work, glaze mixing, and multiple other jobs as needed.<\/p>\n
We now live in Charlottesville, Virginia, in a 1950\u2019s house that Carter renovated.\u00a0 I have a small studio in the basement and a separate kiln shed.\u00a0\u00a0Except for one break from potting while our kids were small, I have made functional pottery all my adult life. For many years, most of my pots were salt glazed. Since we moved to Charlottesville, I work in cone ten reduction, which I fire in a small Bailey gas kiln.<\/p>\n
For many years, I taught weekly classes and occasional workshops at a variety of places. Covid shut down teaching opportunities, and since things have opened back up, I have limited my teaching to occasional weekend workshops at City Clay<\/a>\u00a0and other places.\u00a0 I always found teaching valuable, as it forced me to examine my processes and visual decisions. Responding to student queries made me try new techniques and forms. I miss weekly teaching, but have welcomed the flexibility of a more open calendar.\u00a0 I\u2019m still looking for conference and workshop opportunities as that contact helps me keep my work lively.<\/p>\n Our son Alan and I produced\u00a0Throwing<\/a> and\u00a0Glazing<\/a> videos that are both published by Ceramic Arts Network.\u00a0 And I teach online through TeachinArt<\/a>. That\u2019s a new venture for me, and I\u2019ve been pleasantly surprised by how well the online class format works.\u00a0 I\u2019m able to respond to questions and concerns and students are able to exchange questions, images and ideas with each other, despite living in disparate locations.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a charter member of the Potters Council<\/a>\u00a0(now called ICAN) and have served on the Board.\u00a0 My pots are available for sale in Virginia at Cville Arts<\/a> in Charlottesville; the Crozet Artisans Depot<\/a> in Crozet; and Noon Whistle Pottery<\/a> in Stanardsville; plus the Alderson Gallery<\/a> in West Virginia. I participate in several annual events including RVA Clay<\/a> in June; The Virginia Clay Festival<\/a> in September; and the Artisans Studio Tour<\/a> in November.\u00a0 And my pots are available through my Online Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I started working in clay when I was 19 years old and visiting friends in England. Potting proved an immediate and powerful addiction. Within six months of making my first pot, I enrolled in the Harrow Studio Pottery Course, a … Continue reading