About Lara
Lara O’Keefe is a North Carolina Native. She attended Warren Wilson College where she discovered ceramics during her last semester. From that point she took classes at the local Community College before going to apprentice at several different potteries - Mangum Pottery, Jugtown Pottery, and The Hewitt Pottery. She fell in love with wood firing at Jugtown and built her own wood kiln 2007. Since then she has been a full time stay at home mom of three daughters and Studio Potter. She exhibits her work at studio tours and North Carolina-based craft shows throughout the year. Additionally, she teaches classes and workshops locally to all ages and skill levels. See clayworxstudios.com, and Central Carolina Community College for class offerings.
Artist Statement
From an early age handmade was the language I understood best. It was familiar and the focal point of my family life and surroundings. My mother was the maker of beautiful things. She worked in stained glass, photography, quilting, and even stone masonry.. As a child living for a time in the American Southwest, my home was made of clay and straw adobe bricks and my nearest neighbors were Pueblo Indians, many of them skilled potters. Family pilgrimages South introduced me to the whimsical folk pottery of Mexico. Naturally, I found clay as a young adult and was fortunate to have had formative rich apprenticeships with gifted teachers. Time spent at these North Carolina- based potteries over the span of almost a decade provided me with a catalogue of forms to reference and endlessly reinvent. I see my pots as existing in a continuum of tradition. They flow from me but do not belong to me. I hope that the user of my pots can feel that same connection to the past and hopefully be drawn more into the present moment over a shared cup of tea or meal with a friend or loved one.
Contact Me:
LaraOKeefePottery@gmail.com
(919)704-6204
1010 Saralyn Rd. Pittsboro, NC 27312