I’m Lauren, a Portland, OR-based artist working primarily in clay. Functional pottery is my bread-and-butter, but lately I’ve been enjoying other mediums too, such as gouache painting. Whatever the medium, I’m probably making something with flowers.

I took my first pottery class in 2018 during my graduate program in applied physics. The University of Oregon has a great art center! After completing my master’s degree I joined a membership at a local community studio - something to keep myself busy while looking for a job. For five months I was attending open studio hours at least three days a week, and continued going frequently after starting my new job. I used to joke that I felt more like an engineer in the pottery studio than at my job as an actual engineer - I loved working with my hands, and designing new work, from ideation to troubleshooting to the final product.

I quit my engineering job in December 2020, and in 2021 I completed a 1-year Post Bacc. program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. I have since been working part-time as an artist, but I hope I can make it full-time one day!