WilCo Potters Club-January

Sarah attended the University of Northern Iowa and graduated in 2006 with a bachelor of arts in ceramics. After college she continued to develop her work as a part-time studio potter where she produced work for galleries, art festivals, and exhibitions from her home studio, while also having a career in arts education and administration. In 2021 she became a full-time ceramic artist, working in her home studio in SE Austin, and teaching classes and workshops at Austin community studios. Sarah is an active member in the Greater Austin Clay Artists (GACA) organization and currently serves on the GACA Steering Committee.

Sarah has participated in several artist residencies, including Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and Penland School of Craft. Sarah’s work has been published in Ceramic Monthly and 500 Teapots and she exhibits work in numerous art fairs and galleries throughout the country.

Though ceramics can be considered a fragile material, Sarah’s work is influenced by elements that when structured in a specific manner, provide strength, such as fibers in a weaving or metal beams in a truss bridge. This can be seen in the delicate, yet strong woven pieces that she creates by rolling coils of clay and weaving them in time-tested patterns proven to provide support. She mixes white clay with mason stains to create many shades of colorful clay. This colored clay becomes the accent in her pieces; a colored coil base to a wheel-thrown mug, a woven top to a flower vase, or a truss structure that supports a suspended cup form.