About The Artist
My whole life has been a collection of odd jobs.
I have been a bee keeper, smoking the hives and harvesting honey. One summer I was a ranch hand in the mountains of Montana, where I learned to saddle horses and cook gigantic amounts of coleslaw. Another time I worked on a yak farm, holding down yearling yaks to get shots and tempting the bulls to the opposite side of the farmyard with grain for maintenance. A few years ago I was a lab assistant organizing cheese and milk samples to get tested for E. coli. All these odd jobs were fit in between summers of my college career. I attended Benedictine college where I studied Art and Biology. After Benedictine I attended art school in Florence, Italy to acquire a year of my masters in painting. I learned how to drink wine with lunch and paint shadows of warm and cool tones. The culture swept me away into classical styles and aged flavors, and I left with a sense of awe after I had touched and been to the most ancient sites.
A couple summers ago I fell in love with my now husband Vince, and we were married in May of 2020. While I was pregnant Vince helped me set up and organize a whole studio, which held many trials and errors. The first 2 kilns I inherited did not work, after many stressful nights and setting up a new outlet, A kind potter from Winona sold me her old kiln. Then a new wheel was in order, my one at the time being an old kick wheel from the 70's that was so big and heavy we couldn't even fit it through the door of our house(And a Wisconsin winter was approaching). Vince helped install the kiln and get a new wheel. The creative space I call my studio never would have happened without his help! My pregnancy really set a quick time frame for the studio set up and I gave birth a few months later. After having my first child I was expecting my creation time to become null but I found the opposite happened- I made more art after having a baby than I did when I was single! After a year I got pregnant again and I found myself making even MORE art. We now have 2 young boys, who keep me on my toes and provide a wealth of laughter in our home.
Many other hobbies fuel my curiosity and artistic endeavors- gardening (both vegetable and flower) , making my own kombucha and wine, reading, running, ice skating, trout fishing, playing board games with my husband....with interests in mano other areas I hope to explore one day as well.
All of these experiences influence my artistic approach. And this also seems to be why I consider a few mediums to be my own. Ceramics, painting, and sculpture all have a home in my work. Textures and flavors are found in each form that are so unique to each and can blend together in a splendid artistic dish. I want every customer to have unique and fresh tableware that brings the outdoor in to their table. And not in an extraordinary way, but a normal slow living type of day. The food you serve everyday should be enjoyed on beautiful dishes. It will make your lifelong experience of eating that much more enjoyable.
