Barbara grew up in the Boston area and, after a few international sojourns, moved to Washington, DC, where she began taking pottery classes, first at Eastern Market Pottery and then at Hinckley Pottery. Wheel-throwing classes were her weekly respite during her career in exhibitions and education at the National Museum of Natural History, until she took a longer-than-anticipated break to focus on her work and her family. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Barbara rediscovered and decided to pursue ceramics—particularly hand-building—full time. She completed her Post-Baccalaureate Certificate of Ceramic Artisanry at UMass Dartmouth in May 2023, with a focus on work that is both sculptural and functional and aesthetic that is inspired by the natural world, particularly late-stage botanicals like fungi, fallen leaves and spent seed pods. She currently works out of her home studio and enjoys participating in local markets and shows and teaching youth and adult classes at District Clay Center in Washington, DC.
