"I never grow tired of making my work better and more meaningful and then meeting the people who will drink their coffee from my mugs or put their meals into my bowls. Something I have created, a vase for flowers, a small bird, becomes part of their lives and traditions. More than a piece of art hung on a wall, the pottery is used, passed down and cherished for its role in daily life."
Shelley Mathiot lives with her husband, Chris, in New Bern, North Carolina. Her education as an artist is entirely from life, books, workshops and classes. In college, she had an eye towards a career in journalism but chose motherhood and home-schooling her four children instead. She and Chris, who paints in acrylics and watercolors, owned an art supply store together, hosting many workshops and classes for drawing, painting, pottery and more. Her training in clay began there, learning from other potters. “Everyone’s journey is different,” she says “and the traditional sharing of skills from one craftsman to another is now part of my story.”