About Me

Darting a pitcher form

My girls: Billie and Ella

As a daughter of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife employee, my family moved around a lot when I was a child. Growing up, we lived outside of D.C., Boston, Atlanta and Anchorage.  The most impressionable change for me was in 1991 when we drove from Atlanta, Georgia to Anchorage, AK in the dead of winter.  Following high school, I decided to stay and attend the University of Alaska Anchorage where I earned my BFA in 2002.  While I was a  student at UAA, I took a part-time job as a studio assistant for a local wholesale potter, Kris Bliss.  After working for Kris for four years, I left Alaska to further my education in the field.  My first stop was post-

My many homes…

bacc studies at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Then, I was off to graduate school at Indiana University where I received my MFA in 2006.  Following graduate school, I spent two years as a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT.  Since, I have had the pleasure of attending other residency programs and conducting various workshops/lectures across the country.  In addition to my current studio practice, I am a lecturer at West Virginia University.

shoji at falling water

My husband, Shoji Satake and I live on the outskirts of Morgantown with our two dogs, Billie and Ella.  Shoji is Assistant Professor and Ceramics Area Head at West Virginia University.  To view more images of Shoji’s work, please click here.

Shoji Satake, “Kahiltna Manta”