A Textured Experience

When I was young, my family purchased a pony named Mario. He had no bloodline paperwork, so my father requested we call him “Daddy’s Last Dollar” at horse shows. Mario taught me and countless children how to ride, never needed shoes, and only had one cold while we owned him.

Over the years we had a handful of other horses; feisty Midge, sweet Dottie, and eventually too smart Fritz. It was Fritz who was my fellow pea in a pod horse. A willing quarter horse out of reining stock, he took me all across in the little village of Corrales, NM and around the ditch-banks from the Rio Grande River.

We watched coyotes and roadrunners, found abandoned items aged in the desert sun, and spent many hours exploring anywhere and everywhere. Only once did he accidentally throw me from the saddle and run home. All my artwork and passion is influenced from my time with each horse, but especially Fritz.

As a biology major at New Mexico State University in 2011 (to pursue an equine veterinary career), I decided to take studio art classes on the side as extracurricular credits. Just for the experience and fun. Many encouraging words came from professors and eventually, this accumulated into a Biology and Fine Art degree with a Biochemistry minor in 2015.

Extending my reach, I began a Masters of Fine Art program at the University of Missouri. I was drawn to the philosophy and spirit of the professors who worked in ceramics and quickly switched from printmaking to ceramics within my first year and completed my studies in 2021. My mentors were Bede Clarke and Joseph Pintz.

Years away from horses in college and post-college life has left me with a longing that is only satiated with working in the ceramic studio. It reminds me of time in the stables. Not only with ceramics and horses are you left sweaty and covered in dirt by the end, but you similarly wrestle with something (or some horse) into the image or relationship you want. In both cases, it also shapes you.

My recent body of work is comprised of small-scale tableaus of reflective horses. I focus on the beauty in simple objects that are often weathered or aged which reminds me of my childhood exploring Corrales on horse-back. These works are designed to be in homes adorning bookshelves, table-tops, and wherever else one might find room for art and the reminder of beauty.

Outside the studio, I taught sculpture at Harvard Ceramics where I worked to encourage students to focus on a conversation with color, texture, and form and to approach problems in sculpture outside the standard ceramic routine that dominates the ceramic studio.

I currently work at my growing home studio as well as at Pucker Gallery in Boston’s Back Bay which includes an amazing collection pots including the work of Shoji Hamada and Brother Thomas Bezanson.