About Nicole

I was first introduced to ceramics in 2009 at the Folk Art Guild, a residential artist community in Western New York. Drawn to working with my hands, I decided to leave my work as a media educator and activist in NYC to pursue an apprenticeship at the Guild with Annie Schliffer. When I witnessed her firing the kiln for the first time, I knew that my journey in ceramics was just beginning. Continuing a lineage of Guild craftspeople, I was trained to throw on the wheel, make clay and glazes, fire kilns, and sell our pottery. My education in ceramics was deepened through residencies at Penland School of Crafts (NC)and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (ME).

In 2017, I returned to the West Coast to Eugene, Oregon. Working out of a clay co-op and my home studio, I create collections of functional ceramics and sculpture. I am a member of the Saturday Market, and vend at art shows across Oregon and Washington. My work is available for sale on my website and at galleries across the US.

Continuing the craft of ceramics is essential in our fast-paced and mass-produced world. I appreciate that my work makes people slow down and enjoy everyday experiences more deeply. I also see myself as part of keeping the tradition of craft alive by teaching in the community. I teach at local public schools through Lane Arts Council and at the University of Oregon Craft Center.

My education in ceramics has also been deepened through residencies and workshops at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine. My work has been exhibited in "Future of the Finger Lakes Emerging Artist Exhibition" in Vine Valley, NY in 2013 and 2014, and "The Almighty Cup Show" by the Gandee Gallery in Fayetteville, NY in 2015. I was also the Emerging Artist at the Western New York Pottery Festival in 2014. My work was most recently selected for inclusion in the juried exhibition "Strictly Functional" in 2016.

From my first contact with clay, I fell in love with the tactile nature of the medium. I like to explore texture and form in my pottery, both in the construction of the pot and in the surface decoration. I strive to create imaginative but functional pieces that are firmly rooted in organic forms and surfaces, which has led me to develop two distinct bodies of work. In my Crackle Ware I use a bead glaze over a dark blue slip for decorative surfaces with a varied texture, applied alongside a smooth white satin glaze. These pots are high-fired in a gas kiln. In my Slip Ware, I use a technique called slip trailing in which a liquid slip is applied to leather hard pots in a variety of decorative patterns, and I fire it in the gas kiln with a matte cream/rust glaze. I have also been developing a body of work that emphasizes form and is fired in a wood kiln, using the atmosphere to create a more spontaneous surface.