Clarkware Pottery
I love working in my clay studio! I love everything about the multi-step process, whether stamping and draping slabs into molds or turning a ball of clay into a wheel-thrown bowl or the hand-brushing work to apply the 3 colors to my Ocean Heirloom Lace pieces! My workshop is a busy beehive and each activity is like its own moving meditation through a variety of repetitive tasks that I can lose myself in for hours at a time.
While in college, my hands touched clay for the first time and I enrolled in as many pottery courses as I could find while majoring in English Literature. Upon graduation, I worked for several publishers while looking for a position in a pottery business. Since I didn’t find one, I went on to earn a Master’s in Education and opened my own pottery school, wanting to share my knowledge with others. After 12 years this career evolved to operating my own production pottery studio with a popular line that emerged from testing many ideas in the marketplace to discover what customers were most enthusiastic about buying. I knew that for me to be successful selling my pottery, my buyers would need to be successful selling it too.
My inspiration comes from my relationship with my buyers. We’ve been through recessions, hurricanes, and the Covid 19 pandemic together and we care about each other. Briggs, my partner in life and business noted that I love nothing more than the opportunity to do in-person deliveries of our work to our buyers. I love meeting them and getting a first-hand feel for the vibe of their shop or gallery in their cool little towns. I cherish these road trips and the restful break from the work in the studio which can be too introverted and isolating. The connection made via the visit with the shop owner and/or their staff always reboots my passion for returning to the studio to fill orders.
I couldn’t have seen that my humble experience with crafts and commerce in my childhood and young adult years would lead to building Clarkware Pottery into what it is today.
My mainly coastal-themed pottery is cheery and practical for our often vacationing customers who are themselves recharging with a break from their work. My handmade pots create a symbiotic bond between us. Each day, I know this to be true: I am a potter and I am happy!
