I fell in love with wheel thrown ceramics in my own Ceramics 1 class in high school. Working with clay still feels meditative at the wheel, and firings still feel wild and adventurous while stoking and calming the unpredictable flames of raku and traditional pit fires. Decades on, I am still challenged by throwing taller and increasingly complex and delicate forms, and by using new clay bodies, and glaze chemistry combinations. I find inspiration in the profound intelligence, humor, work ethic, creativity, and incredible dedication of the global ceramics community, from ancient times to the present. 

Above left: GABI-RET Collaboration between Scientists, Natural History Museum Director, and Science Teachers (...and one lone Art Teacher with a dusty science credential.) Above right: Raku bottles  Lower left: Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) ink drawing  Lower right: 3D printed megalodon fossil teeth replicas getting their color. Creating a life sized (7’ tall!) replica shark jaw will eventually become a special project for 3D Art students. Below: Mural poster project.

Between 2003 and 2013, Ms Cohen led international high school programs to remote villages in Thailand, Guadeloupe, Belize and Guatemala, and (pictured below) Tanzania. Students came from all over the US and the world, had the full range of language, socio-economic, family histories. Together they encountered our host villages and did their best to traverse cultural, linguistic, and personal boundaries over 5-6 week long trips.