About
I’ve been a maker my entire life.
Growing up in east Texas, I learned to believe in my own abilities from a young age. My parents were always hard workers, and they instilled their work ethic in me. I remember every weekend my dad waking up and spending all his free time working on the house, or the yard -- anything to do with his hands. Even from a young age, I too was spending my free time always working on a project, or babysitting, or trying to accomplish some lofty but also totally achievable goal. I sewed my own doll clothes. I painted in high school. I learned how to work with wood, and began making furniture when I was in college.
“I grew up trusting that I could do anything myself, knowing that if I didn’t know how, I had the tools I needed to figure it out. ”
If I felt unsure, I could always engage with my surroundings thoughtfully, and find new and creative ways to solve a problem. This was the greatest lesson I brought with me into my adult life.
In my late twenties, I found myself at a crossroads. I’d been working in the field of crisis intervention for several years. When I had started this phase of my career, I’d thought, “This is it. This is what I want to do with my life.” I found it incredibly rewarding to connect with my truest values, and work with people who formed an incredible community that I loved being a part of. But after years of doing the work, I began to question whether it would be sustainable for me in the long term.
As I’ve always done in times of transition, I turned to working with my hands.
I committed to things that demanded my concentration, and started drawing again. I took a painting workshop. I signed up for my first ever ceramics class, and before I knew it I had fallen completely in love with the tactile and focused nature of the craft. I already knew my community was important to me. That I could start with an idea, spend week after week gently coaxing it forward to its final form, brought me a deep sense of resolution and peace. I began to see all the ways this process could kindle its own possibilities for connection.
I spent a year obsessively honing my skills, and took a big risk. I bought my first home, taught myself how to strip walls and lay flooring. I quit my job. Then, I built myself a ceramics studio in my garage.
