View from our cabin in Vermont
About the Artist
Born and raised in Wyckoff, NJ, I grew up knowing the butcher, fruit seller, and pharmacist by name because they had all grown up in Wyckoff, too, and gone to school with either my mother or my father. Our home was filled with things that came with stories, many of which were handmade by a relative from one generation or another. The stories told of family sharing their love and talents by making furniture, knitted blankets, clothing, jigsaw puzzles, marionettes, woven reed baskets and decoupage waste paper baskets, hats, key rings, needlepoint pillows, doorstops, purses, aprons, Christmas tree skirts, ornaments and more! I was encouraged to learn crafts and excel in craftsmanship. Long hours alone cutting, sewing, pasting and painting suited me. When I wasn’t working with my hands, I was wandering around in the woods digging in the dirt. My bedroom was my studio, the great outdoors my muse.
My family summered at the Jersey shore. Clamming, crabbing, and generally living on the beach built awe and respect for weather, tides, and seasonal migrations. Preparing our catch for dinner was a big part of the joyous process. Eating was a lively family and friends affair!
My Grandmother taught herself how to make jigsaw puzzles during the Great Depression and made a little bit of money loaning them out within her community. She passed her fascination with puzzles on to me. There are all sorts of details to a well-made and interesting puzzle. One is the inclusion of picture pieces. In the image above you can find a duck, a goose, and a diver. I made this puzzle. It doesn’t look like much here but the image is a print of a painting of the sea in fog.
My free spirit was set loose when I headed off into the world for college. At the University of Colorado I found my life long mentor, Betty Woodman, who was extremely demanding. In her I saw someone with unbridled artistic curiosity and the confidence to move forward to embrace her personal artistic ambition. She was an artist and a maker, a mother and a wife. Betty represented a professional woman who built a life on her own terms.
Much to my family’s chagrin, I decided to take what had always been an activity of the home and make it my livelihood. My life has followed a path led by curiosity and learning. During my 20’s and 30’s I was a full-time potter living in Vermont, where I still have a summer cabin. I loved this life as a village potter, but after 8 years I was ready for a new challenge. My son, Dizzy, was born in 1997 and while raising him I spent 23 years teaching ceramics at Penn State University. Working with students increased my respect for the many different ways people live and think. Recently I moved to Seattle with my husband, Tom Farbanish, an artist specializing in blown glass, where we are building studios and starting anew.
Spending time with friends and family, hiking, gardening, cooking meals and, most of all, working in the studio, gives me great pleasure and defines my daily life. Pottery adds community and beauty to my routine. Long hours in the studio allow my seemingly endless curiosity to be realized and inspired anew. Making things is a continuous process of discernment and realization! Working with clay, I am grateful to be able to dig around in the unknown as I confront unforeseen challenges, creating ceramics both unique and unexpected that I hope convey comfort and joy!