North Carolina ceramic artist Courtney Erin Martin’s creative work is inspired by her love of gardening and cooking as being a potter. As she throws a bowl,vase orcup, she is mindful of how they will be used, the dish of pasta, the flowers to be arranged and the warm cup of tea to be sipped.

Black and white bulls eyes, turquoise checkerboards and stripes augment the simple pots she makes as she tries to bring an urban sensibility to traditional forms and techniques. Environmental implications of Martin’s craft are important to her, so her firings are made carbon-neutral by using waste wood from the local saw mill.

Martin received her B.F.A. from University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM with an emphasis in ceramics, and persued courses and studio assistant positions at Penland School of Crafts in Penland, NC; Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gaitlinburg, TN; and at the Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts, Asheville, NC.