Carolyn is a regional artist known for her spiked ceramic and porcelain work. Her sculptures contemplate transformative processes in the natural world, celebrating the nuance and surprises found in the ‘ordinary’. Inspired early on by the shifting tidal areas of the PNW, her work is part of an investigative process drawing from textures and forms found in these natural areas. Inspiration comes from quiet study of an area, like water moving across sand, or the way a pod begins to shrink as it dries or imagining contrasting elements together as if left over time.

As her body of work has progressed over the years, the spikes and pierced areas have become the language of her artwork. Carolyn’s altered wheel thrown ceramics invite both visual and tactile responses: spiked clusters suggest organic regrowth, change, or decay. This is often surprising to viewers, and many are drawn in to touch the spiked areas. She enjoys the visceral response from those interactions; the surprise and wonder it evokes! Forms are also pierced, carved or altered, highlighting contrast through texture and light, shifting perceived ideas of wheel work. Often working in a series, she likes to explore an idea through variations in clay and glaze, shifting and allowing the clay to guide some of the decisions. She prefers to keep glazing simple as it helps to support the textures and the clay itself. There is an intuitive process in completing work after the forms are thrown and trimmed, where metaphor and narrative become part of the work. Approaching each one with an openness to how it may shift in the carving or altering is an exciting aspect.

As a self-taught ceramic artist, she was given the basics and a prompt “why don’t you find out” when she first wandered into a ceramic studio in the Los Angeles area in the early 2000’s. Formally trained with a BA in Painting/Drawing, in Illinois (1985), Carolyn now sees ceramics as completing the other half of her creative brain. She credits the freedom to explore without knowing the rules as an important part of her process. This impacts her other work too, in painting, drawing and teaching, reflecting a process of exploring and responding.

Carolyn has been working in the arts for more than 20 years, and has shown work regionally and internationally. She is a member of CLUSTER (a professional group of 8 artists who often work collaboratively), and has shown with several galleries in the greater Seattle area. Her work can be found in collections in the PNW, on either coast, and abroad. She recently retired from teaching art for 20 years to focus primarily on studio work. When not in the studio, she enjoys being outdoors on her feet, bike, or kayak, and traveling to see her family or explore new areas.