Caroline Holden

About Me

My best childhood memories stem from the countless hours I enjoyed outdoors traipsing through the woods of the Mississippi Delta and walking with my grandmother on the seashore or in her garden. She taught me to pay attention to the details of the world with all my senses, and the delight I found in nature as a child continues and inspires my pottery today.

I love to create both decorative and functional ceramic art inspired by my neighborhood gardens and the woodlands where I walk with my children. I combine both wheel throwing and hand building techniques, and I especially enjoy sculpting, carving, and underglaze painting to explore the forms and colors of our local flora and fauna.

My pots welcome being held, and when making them I search for smooth surfaces, interesting but comfortable textures, and a balance of lightweight ease and sturdy resilience. I’m fascinated by the abundant color variation in a single flower or a bird’s wings, and similarly I love to bring color nuance and depth to my ceramics. My functional dinnerware features curves, soft edges, and thinly pulled handles, reminiscent of the wiry, arching stems of crocosmia and the graceful turn of a river’s tumbled stone.

As I create with clay, I hope to offer beauty and benevolent utility that inspires others to joyfully pause when the butterfly flutters past, or the last dew drops linger on a petal, or the morning mist rises from the forest floor. I hope that together we can honor the temporality of life, relish the lovely gifts before us, and extend our affection and connection to the lives around us.