My experience with ceramics started as a freshman at Eastern Illinois University. In passing, a friend took me to a local artist’s home for a visit. While visiting in this friend-of-a-friend’s kitchen, we were served grapes in a ceramic bowl. It was at this intersection that I discovered the world of ceramics. The bowl that was presented caught my eye and when I inquired, I discovered I was at the house of a local potter. With the plan of leaving Eastern at the year’s end, and with thoughts of ceramics floating about, I enrolled in a ceramics class at Eastern. Needless to say, this changed my life’s path, and I did not leave EIU at the end of that year. Instead, I continued my art education until I graduated from Eastern in 2003, and I have been consumed with ceramics ever since. My time at Eastern ranged from learning basic fundamentals to experimenting on my own with different processes and techniques.

From Eastern, I went on to teach ceramics for a summer at a camp in Pennsylvania. At the end of that summer, I returned to Illinois to begin an apprenticeship with Michael Schwegmann of Boneyard Pottery. At Boneyard I learned a great deal about refining the craft, living as an artist, how a studio functions best, and even a bit about business tactics.

From there, I began working towards the creation of my own business, now Running Dog Pottery. I also completed my Master’s in Art Education at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. After student teaching, I was lucky enough to land an amazing job teaching art in District 230, currently at Sandburg High School in Orland Park, IL. This is where I maintain full time employment.

Between the opportunity to educate young students about the ceramic process, and the time spent in my home studio, my roots in clay grow deeper every day.