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A fairly recent transplant to Montana, I was born and raised in the Santa Ynez Valley of California, and became immersed in the world of book conservation while attending UC Davis. I learned the basics of the trade for 3 1/2 years under Wendy Jones in the M.B. Harrison Preservation Department of Shields Library. I earned my graduate degree in Science Illustration at UC Santa Cruz, and spent a few years in rural Japan teaching English and refining my ceramics skills under the tutelage of Shino master potter, Tabei Kenji.

After returning to America, I did a short residency at the Clay Studio of Missoula, and stayed on for some time afterwards as a ceramics instructor. Around this time, I started my current job at the University of Montana, Mansfield Library’s Preservation Department. I’ve also been selling my wares on Etsy almost since their inception in 2005, and was a featured artist in October, 2005. Starting with handmade pottery, I’ve now begun to focus on hand-bound books made from a variety of materials, including recycled maps and Japanese silk-screened paper (Chiyogami).