As I reflect on my weekend trip to New York, processing the deeply insightful conversations with woodfiring artists as well as the opportunity of making work in a wood fire studio, I find that I have come back with a better understanding of myself, my relationship to my work and a sense of excitement towards my electric kiln which up until now I had only thought of as a constraint or limitation. This post is mostly a note to myself,

My clay journey has always been guided by the desire to make aesthetically pleasing pots grounded in functionality. Apart from being well crafted, they need to serve as perfectly functioning objects, that means they need to have a well balanced weight, comfortable handle, good pour, be durable, dishwasher safe, in other words  technically sound pieces that invite daily use. Of all the forms that I make, my favorite is definitely the yunomi, a Japanese tea cup meant for everyday tea

As we said our goodbyes, gave each other tight hugs and set our sights towards home, I couldn’t help but feel that I had gotten to be a part of something really special. Women Working With  Clay Symposium was way beyond anything I could have imagined. The ease with which the participants, volunteers, organizers and presenters, seamlessly blended together to form a vibrant, supportive community, the friendships we forged  over our mutual love for clay, the conversations shared over delicious

In the past few days,  reading all the beautiful tributes that have been pouring out about John Neely, from his friends, students and peers, has helped conjure up his essence for people like me, who knew of him but didn’t really get a chance to know him personally.  By stitching together the patchwork of memories and the words of love that I have read in the remberances, I have come to visualize a kindhearted, soft spoken, impeccably dressed, well read, 

I feel very grateful to have been blessed with some really amazing clay friends and Gaye Lynn and Michael Hodgson are very high up on my favorites list. They are the first people I turn to when I have a clay question. They might not have all the answers, but they take it upon themselves to help me work my way through the problem. They are my sounding board and my absolute favorite people to geek out with. Yesterday we

Very early in my clay journey, seeing my obsession with carving,  my mentor predicted that one day, my working with porcelain seemed inevitable. Fast forward twenty some years, my clay has only gotten darker and groggier and my work extremely rustic and earthy with no scope for anything as pristine or perfect as porcelain. Last month, at a friend’s recommendation, I started to hear Edmund De Waal’s book, The White Road, an intimate narrative history of porcelain where the author 

At dinner my husband asked me about my day in the studio and what I had been up to. My answer was, “Nothing much really.” As I sit down to write and reflect, that casually spoken comment comes back to mind. After all, I had spent a full day working without a break, so why that feeling of  unaccomplishment? To understand that feeling better, I decided to write down all I did today: Made 20 test cups Made 20 test

After holding out for so long, I finally gave in and did my first charcoal, saggar firing in my electric kiln. Let me give a bit of a background. When I was in Bali last September, teaching a two week workshop, Seline my host ( who immediately became a dear friend) showed us some pieces that she had fired on a bed of charcoals set in a saggar, in an electric kiln. They were gorgeous but I had reservations about

Yesterday when I wrote about growing pains, I was  metaphorically speaking, however today the pain is very real. After five hours of hand crushing, sieving and sorting wild soils and rocks in 95 F heat, with cuts and calluses on my hands, a sore back and arms from hunching and pounding, the sum total of my recordable work is captured in the following picture: I have had a growing pile of untested wild soils and rocks accumulating in my studio,