About the Artist

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Born the middle child of three girls and raised in Hingham Massachusetts, I am the daughter of a newspaper arts reporter and an engineer who owned a chain of retail stores.

 

Dubbed “hyperkinetic” by the family pediatrician, I was into EVERYTHING… early on it was finger paints and mud pies. Later I would save my allowance for model kits, paints, Shrinky Dinks, origami paper, fabric and clay.

 

But my earliest and fondest memories were of spending time with my dad in his workshop. He was a patient teacher, stressing safety but also allowing me access to his tools and materials.

 

Under his tutelage, I developed a deep respect for power tools, the mechanics of problem solving and quality craftsmanship.

Fast forward to college. I did my undergraduate studies at Bennington College and Wesleyan University, ultimately graduating from Bennington with a degree in Literature and a minor focused on Sculpture.

 

After college I moved to Los Angeles and attended Otis School of Design, to pursue an MFA. I would live in Los Angeles for 22 years, moving back to Hingham in 2003.

 

My early career involved writing. I worked in Hollywood where I read reams of film scripts and wrote “coverage” (synopsizing and reviewing screenplays).

 

I moved onto copywriting for print marketing and later web content.

 

During these years I had 4 children, to which my career took a backseat.

 

In 1998, the kids and I stayed in a tiny hilltop village near Avignon with my French in-laws. It was here that I discovered the pottery and earthenware of Provence. I was enchanted. This watershed experience propelled the career I enjoy today.

When I returned home, I began studying ceramics in earnest. I worked for many years on my craft, and eventually was able to teach others. I enjoyed pushing the medium in ways I had never seen – by incorporating other art forms and disciplines.

 

Perhaps it was the chaos and shear bullishness needed to wrangle a large growing family, or the rhythms of Los Angeles in the late 1980s and 90’s, but I didn’t see limitations on how to live or how to work. I didn’t see boundaries between different art mediums nor in combining them.

 

Therefore, my first (post-college) foray into Mixed Media began when I incorporated my love for weaving Nantucket baskets with ceramics.

 

I later moved onto larger scale and more complex projects like the Woven Car. Today, I am striving to convincingly combine fused glass and ceramic.

Many of my ventures have been successful and many have not. I spend months attempting to master new techniques through trial and error and often wind up without a product, but with new skillsets and greater respect for the medium.

 

I have been fortunate to have been noticed and to sell my work.