After twenty years in designing and manufacturing in the garment industry, I returned home to concentrate on raising our three children. Still with a passion for working with my hands, and a grounded sense of practicality clay became an active hobby for me. Over a period of 10 years I took lessons at Cedar Ridge Creative Art Center, participated in student shows and sales, and spent many summers enrolled in the Haliburton School for the Arts. I became hooked on working with clay.

With the need to broaden my knowledge I decided to embark on formal training and enrolled at Sheridan College in 2007 graduating 2010. While under the guidance of Bruce Cochrane, I had the opportunity to be exposed to the breadth of clay, studying, working and learning. Within the last several years I have visited Metchiosin Summer School for the Arts and have studied with Robin Hopper, Pete Pinnel and Steven Hill as well as attending numerous workshops and conferences. Directing my attention to form and surface development has been my focus.

I am intrigued by the hands-on process, working with the wheel, altering, sculpting and watching a piece come to life. The challenges that come with the glazing and firing are opportunities to me. My practical nature seems to guide me to create objects that are not just beautiful to the eye but also useful to living day to day. It is my intention that through use one gains a greater appreciation and understanding of the hand made.

My personal interest in the outdoors and traveling has inspired me to borrow from nature and architecture for my work. Added surface textures and fluid, variegated glazes, are much like the snow laden pine trees or the rain pools in a sunken, lichen covered rock. At times, architectural urban shapes intersect with the soft natural lines just as the urban and rural landscapes collide. I constantly am drawing from the world that surrounds me; these porcelain pots and glazes are the creative expression of what I see that gives me joy.

Photography by Dale Roddick