I’m honored to have work selected for the annual juried exhibit, Art of the State, held at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. The opening reception is scheduled for Sunday September 10th from noon-4pm, free and open to the public. The Dowry Jars and the historic Pennsylvania Dowry Chests of the 18th and 19th centuries represent examples of material culture that serve to preserve and protect valuable items for future generations. My ceramic jars are just as ornately decorated as their historic counterparts, the linework referencing stages of germination, the gold acting as a highlight to the ..read more

Back again with another jewelry piece that I made! This piece is titled “Fern Gully” and pays homage to one of my favorite artists, Alexander Calder, and my favorite childhood movie, Fern Gully. I was maybe 12 when I first saw an exhibition of Calder’s work and was immediately smitten! I created a small body of jewelry work when I was in high school and still often revisit this style of working in my jewelry studio. This piece, titled "Fern Gully", is a nod to my favorite childhood movie. It fostered an early sense of environmental awareness. The brass ferns are strung on silk chiffon ribbo ..read more

As a ceramic artist, I sometimes find my usual media of clay to be limiting. I learned the basics of metalwork in graduate school under the guidance of Jack Finch, I’m forever grateful for his mentorship. Since grad school, I’ve set up many a small studio corner to continue to practice and hone my skills. When time and budget allowed, I’ve taken classes to continue my education and fuel my passion for the material. The medium is very different, yet oddly similar at times to clay and I’m slowly finding my own voice in metals. Most recently I’ve completed a project titled “Love Glasses” which is ..read more

Since completing my residency at the North Carolina Pottery Center last summer, I've found excuses to go south again and again.  This last trip down to the Pottery Capitol was to fire my best potter friend's gas/salt kiln.  You've heard mention of him before on my IG, Facebook, most recently in my shop, and now I'll introduce him on my blog! He's deserving of his own blog post, but for now, I'll introduce him in this post.   Meet Chad Brown! He's a 5th generation, Seagrove Potter. Chad is seated in his newly constructed 30' long wood kiln. Like I said, he needs a post of h ..read more

Sincerest apologies for the hiatus! I can say with great confidence that a lot has changed in my clay world and I'm excited to share with you all, once again, my journey.  It's hard to believe it's been more than a year since I've last posted, but it's been a very busy year for me--I'm much better at keeping my insta and facebook up to date.  But, I'll be better about sharing more content on the blog.  While images are worth 1,000 words, I'd like to actually get it down in writing!  So here's the skinny: I've relocated now to a small shop in Carlisle, PA after completing my ..read more

Jared Zehmer's studio in Seagrove, NC. So the name for this blog post is partially misleading.  The nature of this converted electric kiln, constructed and fired by Jared Zehmer, is fairly simple and straight forward.  With experimentation and a few tests, this transformed electric kiln yields some pretty amazing results!  Jared has converted several old electric kilns into gas fired reduction kilns.  One was of particular interest to me, his soda kiln.  Over the years, he's collected and experimented with various electric kiln "shells" (basically just the body of the ..read more

The last week was spent in preparation for my second firing of the Noborigama kiln at the North Carolina Pottery Center.  I considered myself fortunate to be firing with some of my ceramic idols this time around and the firing seemed to go off without a hitch! I look forward to opening the kiln in a few days. In the meantime, enjoy images of the firing process and stay tuned for the results!  It all starts with the wood.  This kiln takes about a cord to fire.  We need thin "sticks" to fire the kiln since the stoke holes are only the size of two bricks.  We got an orde ..read more

Wowza! I'm so grateful to all of my faithful readers and followers! I'm proud to announce that my blog has been named a top ceramics blog by Feedspot! To check out the full listing of ceramic blogs, follow this link.  I have a few posts lined up for the near future so please continue to stay tuned. I can't thank you all enough for your continued and unwavering support ..read more

Last Saturday was the big day! The big day for the Noborigama that is.  With aid from my fellow resident Owen Laurion, artists from STARworks, and tips and tricks from Takuro Shibata at Studio Touya, we had a successful firing.  Much was learned, and I look forward to firing the kiln again ..read more

I'm happy to report that I'm back in the studio again, this time as a resident at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, North Carolina--which happens to be known as the pottery capital of the US of A.  I'll be working at the center for six months; making and firing pots, as well as meeting fellow potters in the area, many of whom happen to be my ceramic idols!  It's been a full month, two wood kiln firings in anticipation of a holiday sale and exhibitions.  Stay tuned as I'll try to have weekly updates of happenings at the studio ..read more