I turned 37 last month. I’m starting to see more of my dad in in my face, more of my older brother too. Suddenly I don’t feel like a kid. Time is feeling finite and I am eager to use what I have.
For the first time in my life, writing 1-, 3-, and 5-year goals is something I enjoy. In the past, I’d stare at a blank page frightened of where to go. Today I have a clearer understanding of what I want, and I’m learning how to build toward it.
I have so much I want to do, but I’m also placing less pressure on myself and feeling less rushed. I’m telling myself I’m exactly where I need to be, and am lucky to have all the cool skills the adventurous me of the past has picked up.
I’m grateful for the design brain Emily Carr University gave me — the ability to break down systems, understand relationships, recognize patterns, and think strategically from a holistic vantage point. I’m grateful for the embodied knowledge that I have in my hands and all that I can express through them. I’m thankful that I love learning, making, fixing, and figuring things out. Most of all, I feel lucky to be surrounded by wonderful friends, my family, and vibrant communities wherever I go. Thank you for all the love I receive everyday.
I simply love grasslands. The Cattails and the blackbirds. The feeling of the wind gently moving through the grass. It makes me feel held, reminding me that we are a part of something bigger. How lucky we are to experience this beauty. Just to sit there. Just to rest there. Just to let the grass move around us. To take in the beautiful tan tones as the grass cures into fall.
This set of ceramic tables was made from that place, from that appreciation, to sit quietly there. I made them with clay I harvested in Basin Creek above Helena, Montana. Coarse in texture, expressive to work with, it feels good in your hands. Hopefully more of this work coming soon.
Made while in residency @archie_bray
Last summer I grabbed my new @alpacka_raft packraft and joined a group of friends for a trip on the Kootenay river in BC. On the second day of the trip I noticed some striking white clay bluffs descending to the river’s edge. The clay was a beautiful sandy kaolinite mix with a character reminiscent of Shigaraki clay— coarse and luminous with a very expressive texture.
We pulled over and packed a few chunks into our boats. That evening at camp, I showed everyone how to pinch a pot. It was a Canadian bachelor party, so first up were small sippers. We fired them in the campfire and used them to sample the array of whiskey that had been tucked into the rafts.
Hours later, after the cold night air had settled into camp, the group was still gathered around the fire, quietly pinching clay. There was an especially grounding connection that came through that experience— finding clay in this serene landscape, getting lost in shaping it with our hands, and hardening it through fire. For a moment, the distance between us and the this place felt impossibly small.
I am grateful to share that I have been chosen to be one of the ten artists participating in the @paseoproject and @del_fuego_project Disturbance— The Art and Ecology of Change.
“Disturbance is a new interdisciplinary initiative by The Paseo Project and Del Fuego that brings artists, scientists, and community members together to examine wildfire as both a destabilizing force and a generative ecological process.”
I am looking forward to working alongside this diverse group, deeping my own understanding of the ecological processes of wildfires, and sharing perspectives on our changing landscapes.
📷 of me @siambiosys
A few quirky 3D-printed mugs hanging out in my studio. I’ve been making these with tools developed during my residency @expressivecomputationlab . The woven texture has a particularly nice feeling in the hand. 🤗
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#3DPrintedCeramics #CeramicMugs #ClayAndCode #DigitalCeramics #StudioProcess ContemporaryCeramics FunctionalWare CeramicsOfInstagram 3DPrintingInClay
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Earlier this spring, a ceramics friend reached out and wanted to give me a gift to help me make my way to the @archie_bray . On one of my first walks around the grounds I came across one of his pieces slumped into the grass near the wood kiln that had been there for a decade. Hello friend! You can feel someone’s sprit through their pots and the brickyard ruins are a treasure trove of past artist’s works. Over the summer I kept coming back to this spot near the old tile factory in the afternoon. The soft light on the tall golden grass swaying in the breeze is a particular kind of Montana beauty I never tire of. The morning before I left, I placed this piece against the factory wall. It’s the first panel sculpture I have made of this scale. The clay was dug from the mountains above Helena. I hope people enjoy it!
I’ve just opened presales on my website for a new batch of Copitas! It means a lot that they’ve been so loved — thank you. Orders will ship November 1st.
Which color do you prefer? Charcoal or Bone ?
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#sippers #mezcalitos #mezcal #cups #blackceramic #clay #handmade
Please join me for an artist talk this Saturday at 1pm @formandconcept ! It will be the last chance to catch my show Markings From Fire, and hear a bit about the work first hand! Hope to see you there.
