i was born in bluefield, wva in 1971 and grew up in san francisco (where i was first introduced to ceramics) and in southwestern virginia.  i graduated from abingdon high in 1989 and went to the college of william and mary in virginia, where i received my a.b. in studio fine arts in 1994.  while there, i studied with marlene jack and holly hanessian (sabbatical replacement) and i worked in a four star restaurant, the trellis (chef marcel desaulniers of the real ‘death by chocolate’), where i learned a lot of fancy food stuff.  in 1999 i was asked to teach ceramics at emory and henry college in emory, va., where i taught ceramics, sculpture and appalachian crafts as an adjunct instructor.  in 2002, i began the mfa program in artisanry at the university of massachusetts, dartmouth.  i received my mfa in ceramics in 2005 and then worked for 2 years as the ceramics studio technician at the worcester center for crafts, worcester, ma.  in 2007, i was accepted as a resident artist at the archie bray foundation and in 2008, i received the bray’s lincoln fellowship.  my residency ended in december 2009 and i am currently working part-time at the bray as the online sales gallery associate...and cooking at benny’s bistro in helena, mt.  in the fall i will return to teach at emory & henry college once again.