Statement
After over 20 years away from ceramics, I reconnected 2 years ago, and am enjoying the process of playing and discovering my voice. Experimentation, curiosity, and an eagerness to learn and grow are themes that are inherently essential to my life and work.
Currently, surface decoration is my focus. I love the process of hydro-abrasion, where I can apply a slip or underglaze, then add a resist and create canyons in the piece by eroding layers of the surface using water and friction. I’ve also been exploring the layering of underglaze, glaze, and stain; switching up the order in which they are applied, to create unique
The textures, colors, lines, and patterns of nature are my biggest inspirations. A beautiful blue sky, the warmth and richness of the earth, the parallel I find between our fingerprints and the rings of trees, and the feminine curves and hues of flowers have greatly influenced my current body of work.
By creating functional work, my hope is that my pieces become integral parts of people’s everyday routine, elicit joy in the otherwise mundane, and, in the case of my mugs, provide comfort and a sense of companionship in the moments of respite they can provide.
Biography
Growing up in Florida, Jill enjoyed playing in the dirt, pretending she was an archeologist, and learning about all things “nature” at the local environmental center. She was curious, studious, a quiet observer, and enjoyed painting and drawing.
In high school, Jill’s art interest shifted towards ceramics, with the encouragement of her amazing teachers. Her home life was dysfunctional and chaotic, and she found solace in the meditative process of hand building, spending hours meticulously crafting coil pots with detailed textures and repetitive stamping. Always considering herself more academically focused, she never felt she was “good enough” to pursue art as a career.
Jill received a full academic scholarship to college, and after a liberating and empowering freshman year, she got up the nerve to switch her major to art, pursuing a BA in Visual Art Studies, with the intention of continuing to grad school for Art Therapy.
In her senior year, she took a ceramics class again, but this time it was wheel throwing. Feeling the clay in her hands felt like a reunion with an old friend. While picking up the new technique of throwing didn’t come easily, the feeling of connection was undeniable. Jill thought of how she could incorporate it into her Art Therapy path, utilizing clay as a tool for hand rehabilitation.
Instead, after graduation and a life altering breakup, she chose to take a hard left. Heartbroken and feeling lost, she packed up her car and moved to Breckenridge, CO for a “season”. She fell in love with the mountains and the people, but also ended up becoming completely disconnected from ceramics, the path she had been on, and art as a whole. For over twenty years she worked in the restaurant and service industries and struggled with alcohol abuse.
Now 6 years sober, Jill has made it her mission to do the work to excavate her true self, each day consciously choosing to create a life where she feels connected to what lights her up; one decision, one step, one day at a time.
This intentional return to center reinvigorated her sense of wonder and eventually led her back to clay. Two years ago she signed up for a wheel throwing class at a community studio, and began incorporating playing with clay, cultivating creativity, and spending time in nature into her daily routine.
She became a volunteer at the studio, then a paid employee, and was ultimately chosen, alongside the studio’s manager, John Hamilton, to receive one of Studio Potter’s annual Grants for Apprenticeship. She and John worked together over the past year in Denver, and just as their time was coming to an end, she learned she had been selected as the next Artist in Residence at Mighty Mud Studio, here in Knoxville. She arrived two weeks ago, is just getting her footing, and is beyond excited to continue this unbelievably privileged chapter of her story in this new community.
Although she’s not sure what a career in the arts will ultimately look like for her, she’s confident that it will reveal itself as she continues to be curious, open, and choose the next right thing, one day at a time.