About me

Hello! I’m Charlotte, the person behind Punctuation Ceramics. Everything available here is made 100% by me from start to finish. I’ve been making pottery on and off for 15 years. In addition to making pottery, I work as a college English instructor, teaching writing and literature classes at Portland Community College.

My ceramics are inspired by my love of literature in subtle and not so subtle ways. In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, she explores our connections to family objects, specifically handmade objects that are passed down from one generation to the next. When I teach this story to my students, we talk about our own connections to things that are made for a specific purpose but evolve into something more: sacred objects, works of art, pieces of history. I love ceramics because I think they’ve always belonged to this category of handmade things that can serve a very tangible purpose (a receptacle for water or a plate for food), but also connect us to the past, the present, and the innate urge that humans have to make and use things that are not only functional, but also beautiful.

In addition to the functional work that’s available in my webshop, I’m also working on a collection of larger sculptural pieces that will be available later this year. This collection is made up of coil built and wheel thrown vases as well as sculpted heads. I’ll be doing an artist residency at the Sou’wester Lodge this summer, where I hope to expand this body of work.