As a child and well into my teen years, I loved to draw but it wasn’t until my college years that I really began cultivating my passion for Art in general. Following High School in Dallas, I came to Colorado to work/study and felt I had come ‘home’. I completed undergraduate work in Fine Arts with a teaching degree from the University of Northern Colorado in 1970.

Marriage and family followed; when my two children were older, I taught Art K-12 in the Public Schools. I always promised myself that when the children had ‘flown the nest’, I’d return to school for my Master’s Degree and I accomplished that goal in 1996. A surprise awaited me during my graduate work. My original intention was to focus on Art Education but in my first semester, I signed up for an elective in Ceramics.

I knew the minute I began working on the potter’s wheel that it was going to change my life. So, in addition to Art Education, I doubled my focus to include Ceramics and I’ve continued my ‘love affair’ with clay to this very moment. While I experimented with many different firing processes, it was Raku that was most aesthetically appealing to me and I have concentrated my work in that process ever since.

After earning my Master’s Degree, I instructed Art Courses on a part time basis for Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University). This allowed me time to develop my professional Art business under the name “Shekinah Clay”. Growth & success of the Art business necessitated my resignation from teaching & I have devoted myself full time to the creation and marketing of my raku art work ever since!