I was born in Highland, Michigan. My first connection to clay was in a river located on the property of my Aunt and Uncle’s cottage on the Tittabawassee River in Michigan. I remember the smell of the river clay and its responses; a quickness to drying and cracking.
After high school, with the support of my ceramic and painting instructors, I was awarded a scholarship to work alongside a potter in Germany for a year. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a BFA, I began a year-long apprenticeship with studio potter, John Glick. While in Michigan, I worked as the Ceramics Studio Manager for the Ann Arbor Art Center. I attended Penland School of Crafts with a work-study scholarship. In 2007 I moved to Durham, North Carolina. From 2006 to 2015 I taught a range of course topics including, wheel throwing, hand building, sculpture, and glaze calculation at The Ann Arbor Art Center, The Durham Arts Council, The Pullen Art Center, and Claymakers. Afterward I worked as a gallery assistant for Cedar Creek Gallery in North Carolina. Following my experience at Alfred University's Summer Program, I began graduate school at Arizona State University where I earned my MFA degree. I became an Adjunct Professor at Phoenix College, and at Aurora University in Shanghai, China via Siena Heights University in Michigan. Recently I was the Con Ed Ceramic Instructor and Ceramic Studio Tech at Rockingham College in North Carolina, and an Adjunct Art Instructor at Guildford Tech College teaching classes such as 2D Design, Drawing I, Sculpture, and Art Appreciation.
I work as full-time art faculty and the department head of ceramics and sculpture at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan.