Vera Pottery

Bio

Vera was born in Monroe, NC and grew up on a small farm. She attended the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. At UNCG she was a Reynolds scholar. After graduation in 1976 she attended Bowman Grey School of Medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. Graduating in 1980 with her MD she enrolled in the Anesthesia residency at Bowman Gray. In addition to her anesthesia residency, Vera completed medical fellowships in pediatric anesthesia and pediatric anesthesia. She practiced as a pediatric anesthesiologist in Atlanta and was on the faculty of Emory University Egleston Children’s Hospital and at Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

Vera and her husband Jim moved back to North Carolina in 2001. After years of fascination with clay and hand thrown pottery, she decided to pursue her own future in clay as a creative outlet.

Vera & Jim

From 2001-2005, Vera traveled throughout the world as a volunteer physician providing anesthesia to children in developing countries such as Burma, Vietnam, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Nepal, and Tibet. Unusual forms, uses, and shapes, different habits and customs from other cultures all enable her to bring home new ideas which influence her pottery.

While she is curious with varying shapes, forms and textures, her pottery can thought of as having a common characteristic: that of fulfilling a purpose both functionally and spiritually. She wants her pieces to be used and enjoyed.

Vera has attended extended workshops at Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, and the Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts. She has studied under Ah Leon, Judith Duff, Brad Tucker, Cynthia Bringle, Malcolm Davis, Sylvie Granatelli and Ellen Shankin.

When she is not throwing pottery, Vera is an avid seamstress, knitter, crotchetier, farmer, voracious reader, Mom to her four wonderful dogs and shares her life with Jim—her soulmate and husband.