Growing up on a horse farm, I was fortunate to spend a lot of my childhood outdoors, barefoot, and playing in the dirt. One day, my mother found me covered in mud from head to toe and asked, wasn’t there anything else I could do for fun? To which I proudly responded, “ Mama, I’m just a diggin’ in the dirt kind of girl.” Little did we know how much my life would still be shaped by “dirt” 30 years later.

From a young age I was serious about art, but didn’t experience working with clay until I majored in art college. After my first ceramics class I was completely hooked, and went on to earn my BFA with a Concentration in Ceramics from East Carolina University in 2014. During that time I was unbelievably fortunate to study abroad in Italy, where I fell in love with the art history, traditional maiolica pottery, and a slower rhythm of life. That experience left a huge imprint on my perspective and the direction of my work. My travels then and since have cultivated a love of learning about other cultures, cuisines, and traditions.