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• Post #4243455

  Today, after my admin tasks are done, I'll begin working on some commissions that I've had on my list to complete. One is for a lidded vessel to be placed on an altar that honors ancestors and orishas. This isn't the first time I've received such a request, but it's been a while. I'm always honored to be asked to make pieces that carry spiritual significance.

• Post #4074039

  I’m making a clay body out of a dried out bag of porcelain a friend gave me and some super sandy clay from a construction site that someone brought me back in 2023. It’s for a community event on Monday. I can’t wait to see what it feels like to work with. Here are photos from the source. #WildClay

• Post #3917843

  A recent Ringling College film school graduate got in touch with me asking to take photos to fortify her portfolio. Aside from the usual headshots, she took very cool photos of random things in my studio that I thought it would be fun to share, to give an inside view of my workspace. If you live in SW #Florida and need a photographer, check out Vivian Hoang: https://lilmissvivian.com/ #photography #ArtistStudio

• Post #3838986

  This is the second time I can remember this happening: Someone got in touch with me because they found my pottery at a thrift store. Part of me is bummed that someone out there got rid of my pottery. But the thrift shopper in me is always happy because—what a score! 🤣 Also, this person joined my email list and is inquiring about my next seconds sale, so that’s a win, right? #HellYeah

• Post #3837460

  RE: https://mastodon.social/@joynewacc/116744416775409343 I’m just now seeing that @joynewacc@mastodon.social made it out of #Gaza and is continuing her studies in Italy. I just wanted to boost for all those who contributed to her fundraiser just in case they missed her previous posts, as I did. The support we provide as a global community can be life changing. Her family in Gaza obviously still needs our continued support: https://chuffed.org/project/farah-needs-help

• Post #3836958

  Super fun activity with the teen mentee today. I showed her how to turn #WildClay into a workable clay body, a slip and terra sigillata. We processed the clay, removing small rocks and root material with a sieve. We dipped a test tile into the resulting creamy slip and then poured some of that slip onto plaster to quick-dry it into a plastic state. She made a little pinch pot from that. Then we watered down the slip and added a touch of sodium silicate for the sig. She was stoked. #AltText

• Post #3765570

  It’s hotter than the hinges of hell out there (to quote my husband’s late grandma) but mango season makes it a bit more bearable. We planted a dwarf Malika tree when we moved here and it began bearing fruit a couple of years ago. Every year, of course, the harvests increase. The variety is floral-tasting and fiberless. Heaven! A couple of days ago, a freak wind storm blew through and we got a literal windfall of mangoes 🥭 #Zone10 #Florida #TropicalFruit

• Post #3681857

  A couple favorite Earth Tone pots from my last kiln load. I sent them to a gallery this week for an upcoming show. The theme is geometric patterning. I can’t wait to see the work from the other makers. It will be very cool to see everyone’s pottery grouped together—unique, yet united by a common theme. #pottery #ceramics #WildClay

• Post #3654972

  Funny stuff kids made during today’s clay workshop: six-seven and a snail that looks like it’s open-mouth laughing. #clay #KidsArt #sixseven

• Post #3587741

  I’ve been making bedside water bottles for years but I don’t make them very often. They’re inspired by Mexican botellones—small clay water jugs with an accompanying cup which serves as a cover. Sometimes the cup has a handle. I’ve also discovered a Congolese version of the botellón. It’s such a simple and effective idea that it’s no surprise it would appear in multiple cultures. #pottery #ceramics #beautility

• Post #3539540

  Epic fail in the studio just now! I knew I was taking a risk with this larger statement piece. The attachment of the leaves was a challenge and something I’d never tried before. The vase had been sitting and drying for days, waiting for terra sig application. I carefully moved it to my work table today. No issue. Brought a jar of sig to the table and set it down beside the piece. A leaf fell and crumbled as soon as I sat the jar on the table. #ceramics

• Post #3432519

  Two different terra sigillata results from the same #WildClay sample. I’ve talked a lot about how terra sig is just refined clay slip—Clay and water blended, left to settle and then you collect the silky fine layer at the top to decorate with. Well, you can get varied results depending on how long you let the clay solution settle. The shiny red is a highly refined sig (left to sit for four days) and the green is a less refined sig (sat for 24 hrs.) I find this so interesting!

• Post #3429891

  Osa, it’s Gloria Steinem. Hi Osa, it’s Stacey Abrams. Osa, it’s Barack Obama.

• Post #3382497

  Art and Craft Show & Tell Post a photo of a piece from your home collection and tell us what it means to you. Anything goes—something your kindergartener made or a piece you purchased from a gallery. This #painting is by distinguished Belizean artist Pen Cayetano. His work often depicts #Garifuna culture. Here, women are shown processing cassava, their staple food. Cayetano is also the inventor or Punta Rock music. It was an honor to meet him and his wife Ingrid on our travels to #Belize.

• Post #3378005

  Rain Vase. It’s been eerily dry. It hasn’t rained heavily in almost a month. Usually, this is my favorite time of year. I love standing on the beach under a dramatic, overcast sky watching lightning and off-shore rain storms. I love walking out into the garden after a thunderstorm and noticing how turgid and bright-green all of the leaves are. This year, even the native plants in my yard are barely hanging on. We’ve been in drought for years but it’s so hard to accept this as the new normal.

• Post #3376523

  Day 1: Camp True Colors clay workshop at ALSO Youth. We’re going to paint them with colorful underglazes tomorrow and then I’ll bring them back to my studio for firing. These kids are always super fun. 🌈 #HappyPride #LGBTQ #clay #pottery #ceramics #ISeeYourTrueColors

• Post #3311622

  After I left this exhibit, everything else looked gray by comparison. Woody DeOthello (b. 1991, Miami) “coming forth by day” Peréz Art Museum Miami #ceramics #sculpture #fineart #BlackArt #Miami

• Post #3263174

  I just had my first mentorship session with a recent high school graduate. This mentee is special because she’s actually interested in pursuing #ceramics as a profession whereas my other mentees mostly just wanted to exposure to the medium. This means that besides honing her clay skills, we discuss self-education outside of the university path, how to connect her art to the public thru craft festivals, online, galleries… We’re both really excited to be working together.

• Post #3231244

  Got my first breast scan today. I opted for a clinic that uses the Koning Vera CT scan—no painful compression, you just lay down and stick your boob in a hole and they scan each one. I believe you get about 30 cross section images of each breast from a scan that only takes a few seconds. If you dread conventional mammograms, look into this option. It will become more widely available in the future.

• Post #2449754

  My lovely little studio that I just posted about could have burned down, but my Skutt electric #kiln shut down automatically to prevent it. The receptacle was previously showing signs of wear and tear and began melting and smoking during the last firing. I believe I need an industrial grade outlet. Instead, what was installed is more residential grade--what one would install for a washer/dryer. Super scary. Spending the morning calling the electrician and Skutt in Oregon. Very close call.

• Post #2244992

  A few of my favorites from the last kiln load.

• Post #2193811

  Working on new batches of decorating slips with clays from Alabama, Georgia and New Mexico. I was contacted recently by Rhonda Willers, the author of Terra Sigillata: Contemporary Techniques. She’s working on a 2nd edition and wants to include my midrange #WildClay experiments. We got on the phone the other day and I learned so much from speaking with her. My process is very self-guided so being able to get into the nitty gritty on such a specific topic is rare and extremely helpful.

• Post #2135678

  I'm equally left and right-brained so this article was such a pleasant read for me. Eglash, wrote the book African Fractals and I was so excited to see that he'd also written about artist John Biggers. "A Geometric Bridge across the Middle Passage: Mathematics in the Art of John Biggers" by Ron Eglash https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ron-Eglash/publication/299000294_A_geometric_bridge_across_the_middle_Passage_Mathematics_in_the_art_of_John_Biggers/links/...

• Post #1967971

  Unfathomable quantities of water flushing from the bay into the gulf at Midnight Pass. I never get tired of watching water & light interact. #TimelineCleanse #Peace #Nature #Florida

• Post #1757143

  I've been working on this #documentary about one of my mentors, David MacDonald since 2022. He was a professor at Syracuse University for over forty years and is a beloved figure in the #ceramics world. This project has been an immense undertaking. My hope is to finish shooting by spring 2027 and to complete post-production by 2028. At this point, I think we could benefit from the addition of a producer. Suggestions and boosts welcome. https://makertube.net/w/mi8WsjLMRu3ZLjw79k1qSn #...

• Post #1675691

  RE: https://mastodon.social/@DaddyJew/116435087621279464 This toot has been living rent-free in my head ever since I read it a week ago 😂

• Post #1635703

  Before/After Photo 1: painted with wild clay decorating slips, unglazed, unfired. Photo 2: glazed and fired. The earth tones are clay slips (terra sigillata), the glossy aqua and white are glaze. #pottery #process #transformation #alchemy #ceramics

• Post #1568205

  I’m having another open studio event this Saturday. Just wanted to share what my studio looks like. It’s the garage behind our house, converted into a #pottery workshop. That’s a wood fired #RocketKiln in front and I have electric kilns inside. I could run my biz solely online (and I was grateful to during early pandemic era, 2020-2021) but that feels strange since my pottery pulls so much from my surroundings. It only makes sense to share it with other people who live here. #Florida

• Post #1520018

  Just shipped out these pieces for “Clay As Place: The Transient Object” at Red Lodge Clay Center, May 2026. From my statement: “As I decorate with these different clays, I am automatically transported back to the origins of the material. A small ball of #clay is a piece of a place that I can bring back home with me, into my studio, to create meaningful works that are then sent back out into the world—Clay  As Place, The Transient Object.” #pottery #ceramics #art

• Post #1368123

  This is one of my favorite little pots from the last kiln load. The pinkish tones come from Alabama #clay and match some of the colors on George Washington Carver’s house paint swatches that I posted about a couple of days ago, also derived from Alabama clay. #pottery