Living & Making Pottery in the Mountains of North Carolina

I live with my husband and daughters just outside of the small town of Pisgah Forest, in the mountains of western North Carolina. We are 15 minutes from Brevard, 20 minutes from Hendersonville, and 30 from Asheville. My studio is a tree house-like structure that sits up the mountain from our house.

While working at my pottery wheel or hand-building table, I have an ever present view of trees and mountains, and the sounds of birds singing and leaves rustling are a constant companion.
 

Cooking & Pottery

My life passion, second to being a mom and pottery, is cooking. Like pottery, cooking gives me the opportunity to experiment, create and bring a little joy to the everyday lives of those around me. At festivals and shows you'll find that my baking dishes include recipes to give you an idea of how to use the pottery. These are tried and true recipes, some passed down from my mom and some my own. Pottery is a great material for baking. Unlike metal or glass, cooking spray is not needed in pottery. That means no yucky black sticky stuff that never gets clean. Pottery also heats up slowly and then holds heat well, resulting in food that cooks evenly from outside to center- which means no burnt black edges. I am constantly experimenting with different style pots and recipes and I am always open to ideas and suggestions from customers.

Pottery & Motherhood

Working from home is a balance for me of making pottery and caring for my daughters Annie and Molly. They hang out in the studio with me, making their own clay creations, painting, and making messes of all sorts.  My husband Heath has his own business as well, a fly-fishing guide service. Check it out here www.pisgahoutdoors.com It is hard work and our lives are full and busy but we are grateful beyond measure to be able to carve out a living at work that we love.

How I Got My Start

I had my first experience with clay during my senior year of college.  I signed up for Intro to Ceramics Class just to fulfill a requirement for my art minor. I started the minor because I loved art but thought I would hate working with clay. At the end of the semester, I was not making anything especially beautiful but I was hooked. After graduating, I took a part time job to support myself and spent the rest of my time in the pottery studio. Later, I worked as an assistant at Rising Sun Pottery, a teaching studio in Lincolnton, NC. There, I helped maintain the studio, taught classes and practiced my pottery. In 2007,  I set up my own studio at my home and went into pottery business full time.