BIOGRAPHY
I arrived in San Francisco in late 1974, and went to work at The People’s Food System for the next 4 years. (See foundsf.org). When I left the Food System, I worked as a teamster for about a year before I entered the trades. Those years prior to construction led me to want a different career path than most women follow. I started in the carpentry trade in late 1979 and joined the Carpenters Union as an apprentice. After a four-year apprenticeship, I became a Journeywoman carpenter. Plant Construction employed me for 24 years of my time in the Union. During those 24 years at Plant, I went from being an apprentice to journeywoman, to forewoman to superintendent. I had the good fortune to work on, and subsequently manage, many historic and memorable projects. Included among those were the Frank Lloyd Wright building on Maiden Lane in SF (as one of my first jobs as a forewoman), The Shell Building, The Alcoa Building, The Fairmont Hotel, The Huntington Hotel, The SF Zoo, Lick Wilmerding High School, Urban High School, Marin Academy, and many others.
During my early years in the trade I began taking ceramics classes at The Clay Studio of SF (now defunct). Since I first got my hands on clay, (1990), I have not stopped being enchanted with the material and its natural flexibility. I love the stuff! From Day One I was hooked.
In 2003 I started spending more serious time at my studio, and took numerous workshops with nationally known artists to further enhance my skills and appreciation for the craft. When The Clay Studio closed in 2011, along with several other clay enthusiasts, we started sfclayworks. That studio has become a joy and pleasure, as well as a business endeavor. My years in managing projects has aided me enormously in the business end. It is my current home base for all things ceramic.
In 2006 I went to work for Architectural Resources Group as a Construction Manager. With ARG I worked on projects in Yosemite National Park, The Alameda Theatre and Cavallo Point, to name a few. After three years with ARG I worked for a year and a half on preconstruction services for the new Exploratorium building at Pier 15. After leaving full time construction management, I held several training sessions for future construction superintendents, and taught Construction Management classes at City College in SF.
In addition to ceramics and construction I am also interested in music, gardening, travel, food and cooking, family and friends, and taking long walks and enjoying the sunshine. Covid has cramped my spirit of adventure to some degree, and current politics and social atmosphere have cramped my optimism for social/racial justice and world peace, but I continue to be in wonder of this world, its people, nature and art.
Among other factors, like my family, background, and environment, my work in building and construction has helped form me as a person as well as a ceramic artist. “Making” is what I love most. I have enjoyed the process of building buildings, and I continue to enjoy building forms made from clay. I like the structure and architecture of both. I LOVE tools and using my hands. There are times when I simply have to go to my studio just to get my hands around something tangible and create something new. Since I am now retired from my “day job” of building concrete and wood structures, I have more time to spend on my own unique clay structures.
