I enjoy working with my hands: gardening, cooking, playing with clay.  I get great satisfaction from taking a lump of clay and transforming it into something functional or beautiful and sometimes, if I am lucky, both.  I grew up on a farm and was in regular contact with the natural world, which deeply informs and influences my work.  I think I enjoy clay because of the tactile nature of the medium.  I often let the clay guide me to the eventual outcome.  I enjoy working with found objects from nature, lace scraps and doilies from my family home.  

I discovered my love of pottery when I visited a college friend who had been making incredible functional art.  I was so inspired by her work that I began taking classes at my local community college and anywhere else I could find teachers.  Over the years I have jumped in and out of pottery as life circumstances allowed, but I never lost my interest in this art form.  When I moved to Humboldt County, I was able to reconnect with clay, taking classes at Fire Arts Center in Arcata. Through some amazing teachers there, I found my way back to pottery, although, with lots of ground to regain.  I am still a student there and continue to find inspiration from my teachers and my fellow artists.

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—Bea Avcollie