The first time I really tried to cook was for my boyfriend in college. I was trying to impress him, and, essentially, I took frozen raw chicken to a pan and just popped it into the oven. Luckily, my friends happened to pop by and were like, “What the hell is going on?” I was like, “Yeah, you know, date night!”
They sat me down and were like, “You need seasoning. You need to defrost the meat.” That was my first real lesson in cooking, as a sophomore in college. Ever since then I’ve learned how to season food and how to actually cook. But that’s my first memory of learning! My curiosity sparked there, and I love to cook now.
In college, once I learned how to actually cook, I had a lot of fun cooking with my friends. We would have “Breakfast Bonanza,” and we’d all cook for each other weekly or every day. I love the process of cooking for other people. It’s exciting to have other people try your food. It’s a source of connection and gathering for me. I love to cook for those close to me and share in delicious food because it reminds me of an “at home” feeling.
I love to cook for those close to me and share in delicious food because it reminds me of an “at home” feeling.
I was in college studying photography, and I failed out of the program, but they were like, “You have enough credits for ceramics!” I obviously loved it because I had taken so many classes already. It was a good transition. I studied art education in addition to ceramics, so I was a teacher when I was first out of college. Ceramics was on the backburner because it’s also expensive to jump-start. After the pandemic, though, I decided to invest in it again, and I was able to build my business. 
The pandemic changed my life, as it did everyone’s. I blew up on Instagram in the summer and then invested in it fully. By the time school came back around it just made sense for me to follow through with ceramics. My background as a teacher, though, definitely has impacted the joy in my ceramics. I used to give my students little smiley-face stickers, and that’s how I ended up putting them on the ceramics.
My background as a teacher, though, definitely has impacted the joy in my ceramics.
A lot of my work stems from healing and creating space for your inner child to play. It was really cool to work with kids, and I noticed there was such a disconnect with adults feeling sparks of joy throughout the day. I wanted my ceramics to provide that, but I also wanted my pieces to feel fun and not too kitschy. I was drawn to Great Jones for the same reason. I loved the color stories, and I also find so much joy in the kitchen.
A lot of my work stems from healing and creating space for your inner child to play.
This was my first time making spoon rests, so that was really exciting for me. The mugs are more of my go-to, so making those for this collaboration was a no-brainer. The crock was really exciting and felt like such a natural choice for this collaboration. So much of my work comes from happy little accidents, and I’ve enjoyed breaking from the typical ceramics trajectory. I’ve been able to use color and feel more myself and tell my story.
So much of my work comes from happy little accidents.
I made pork poblano tacos with homemade salsa because they’re so tasty and colorful — like the collection we created. I live in Austin, Texas, and we are known for our tacos here! I love making tacos because it allows you to get creative with the ingredients and the toppings.
I loved using Stir Crazy for all my prep: I had lots of veggies, meat, and then salsas. There was a lot going on, so Stir Crazy was so helpful. I also used the Fry Family, which helped me get everything done at the same time. I love working with color, and I love cooking with color, so I loved that with the tacos — the peppers and the salsas — everything is visually so fun.
I love working with color, and I love cooking with color, so I loved that with the tacos — the peppers and the salsas — everything is visually so fun.
I am actually hoping to start doing some more film and commercial work as an artist. I am also very interested in exploring the more conceptual side of the art world. I am making the move to L.A. in the next few months to discover what this looks like for me
