When I was a child, I loved playing outdoors in the mud. I can still remember sitting in my backyard in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, digging in the dirt with my bare hands and using water to make mud patties. I felt so free and connected to my creativity and imagination. When I had to be inside, one of my favorite toys was Play-Doh, especially the magic of the extruder and all the bright colors. 23 years later, when I took my first ceramics class at SUNY New Paltz, I fell in love with the medium. I adore the feel of the clay and the process of creating, glazing, and firing, as well as the communal nature of being a ceramicist. All my ceramic work is informed by my connection with nature. I’ve shown my ceramics at local museums, galleries and restaurants and currently sell my functional work at the Byrdcliffe Shop in Woodstock and the Mohonk Mountain House Local Artists Gift Shop in New Paltz.
I grew up in a house where my mother was often painting and sewing, and my uncle’s paintings hung on the walls. They painted to represent what they saw—flowers, landscapes, and people. I paint for the joy of playing with colors, shapes, and textures.
Fun fact: for the past 35 years, I’ve been entertaining children as Rainbow the Magical Clown—at Mohonk Mountain House, Omega Institute, the Rosendale Library, as well as schools, nonprofits, hospitals, and family celebrations. I also have the joy of teaching ceramics to homeschoolers and budding artists of all ages in my studio at my home in Rosendale.
Another fun fact: thanks to my dear friend Fre Atlast, I’ve performed six times here at the Rosendale Theatre as “Marilyn Monroe-sendale”!