I’m retired, although I still work a few days a week nursing. The loves of my life are my new puppy and my grandchildren.

I did pottery in high school and college. About 10 years ago I took Gay Calo’s class and I never left the studio.

Nature. Flowers. Trees. Not necessarily animals, but nature.

I don’t know what drew me to pottery. It’s not necessarily the clay – it’s creating. My hands are very creative. I’ve done macrame my whole life. I’ve done all sorts of creative things. You can show your creativity through the clay.

It’s half and half – half on the wheel and half handbuilding. I’ve always done both. When I get tired of one I move on to the other. And then when the wheel doesn’t work for me well, I go back to handbuilding.

One thing I particularly like is that you can take a plate (or other shape) and put anything on it that you want. That makes it not a plate. It’s a blank canvas.

To be patient. Don’t touch it when it’s wet.

Well it’s not relaxing for me.

It’s fun.

It’s enchanting.

And it’s therapeutic.

Throwing 5+ pounds of clay and making a large bowl is really challenging. I took Susan Brum’s Throwing Large class several years ago where you start with 3 and you put another 3 on top of that. So you center in stages. Learning that technique made a big difference.

People know I’m hyperactive. They know I like to clean. People who know me know I would be at the beach. At pottery. I would be walking the dog. I would be cooking. Or I’d be in my garden. Those are all the things that they wouldn’t be surprised. But they may be surprised that I drive slow in my nice truck – a Toyota Tacoma.

The piece I’m most proud of is a nice bowl that sits on my shelf. It’s one of the pieces I made in Susan Brum’s class. I dipped it into 3 colors and I just love it. I made it with about 6 pounds of clay. I use it for holidays – nothing else. Nobody can touch it!