I met my husband Richard Hess (who is a member of 20 Dirty Hands) 32 years ago in Ithaca, NY. I went to shows with him and when asked if I was an artist, I always said no, I was his technical support person…not an artist. Richard was a willing and good teacher and taught me the basics of hand building and we enjoyed being in the studio together. During our 20 years in Austin, Texas we had a teaching studio, and it was during that time that I started a clay group with three of his students.  We did shows and enjoyed the time we spent working with clay. Richard and I also taught pottery to many, many groups of Girl Scouts and Brownies while we were in Texas.

 

We moved to Galena, Illinois in 2014, set up our pottery studio and once again, I have had fun spending time experimenting with clay. I started making my little houses and have had fun with the shapes and the surprises that come from raku firings. The clay is extruded, and each house is shaped by hand. The house form is intriguing, and the finished product always makes me smile.