I chanced into taking an Intro to Wheel class at the Dover Art League, just after graduating college in 1994. My instructor must have noticed that spark. She soon after provided me with a key to the studio so I could come and go whenever I found time. Most nights, after work, I entered the quiet studio to practice. I found inspiration in the works and lives of potters I discovered at my local library, like Lucie Rie and Bernard Leach. Within a few years I acquired a potter’s wheel (the same Brent wheel I still use today), an L&L electric kiln (which still fires!), and an essential stack of how-to books (Ceramic Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated included). I taught myself making techniques, how to fire an electric kiln, and glaze preparation, while also participating in workshops, introducing me to raku and hand building.

In 2006, my family (Frank, Dominic, and Daphne) and I moved to Tallahassee, Florida, and I set up my first working studio in a shed outside our home, my beloved Tally Mud Shack. I gave clay lessons from my studio, volunteered in my children’s art classes and events at Cornerstone Learning Community, and led clay sessions at  LeMoyne Arts. My home was soon overflowing with pottery to use and to share! With the encouragement of family and friends, I opened my online Etsy shop, Ceramic Design by Cherie, in 2007.  A short stay in Baton Rouge, Louisiana brought our much-loved Hula (the sweetest, happiest Catahoula, 2010-2022) into our lives. Then, a job opportunity for my husband, poet Frank Giampietro, brought our family to Farmington, Maine in 2011. We made our home next to Flint Woods, where adventures on the trails with Hula and my family quickly inspired my life and clay practice. I set up my studio in a sunny room of our home looking out towards the woods, and sought to recreate the colors and textures I found in the forest. Studying gemstones, minerals, and specimens, while assisting at a local jewelry store Mainestone Jewelry, inspired me to incorporate more eye-catching details and naturally-occurring colors into my ceramics.

My present home studio is a small, yet inviting space, filled with natural light, stocked with supplies, and works in progress. A cozy mug is still a favorite of mine to make, and sharing my love for clay continues to lead to new experiences. I feel very lucky to be on this clay journey these last thirty-plus years. With every piece I make I remember the happiness that creating with clay has brought me, how it connects me to family, friends, and the places I've called home.