While I started ceramics early in life in high school and college, I didn't circle back to it until 2008, when I enrolled in Frank Massarella's clay school in Ojai, California. There, I discovered the earthiness of clay and the magic of turning a lump of it into a bowl or a mug, brought even more to life by glazing and magical colors. I love every aspect of the medium and the way it calms and centers, so much so that clay has become a constant fixture in my everyday life.

When it comes to functional pottery, there is nothing like picking up and using a hand-thrown or handbuilt piece, wrapping my hands around a creation that is one of a kind, just as unique and filled with story as the human who made it. I know this from work I have collected over the years, as well as my own. I have also found great pleasure and fulfillment in sculptural pieces, rooted in nature and the comings and goings of seasons. For their playfulness and soulfulness, texture and whimsy, I draw on trees, flowers, bugs, butterflies, birds, bunnies, cats, dogs, and of course, horses, which are always inspired by my four beauties and the precious souls that came before them.

I currently work out of my home studio, Benito Studio 162, in Ventura, California.