Hello!
I’m Charlotte, the person behind Punctuation Ceramics. Everything available here is made 100% by me from start to finish. I’ve been making pottery on and off for 15 years. In addition to making pottery, I work as a college English instructor, teaching writing and literature classes at Portland Community College.
My ceramics are inspired by my love of literature in subtle and not so subtle ways. In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, she explores our connections to family objects, specifically handmade objects that are passed down from one generation to the next. When I teach this story to my students, we talk about our own connections to things that are made for a specific purpose but evolve into something more: sacred objects, works of art, pieces of history. I love ceramics because I think they’ve always belonged to this category of handmade things that can serve a very tangible purpose (a receptacle for water or a plate for food), but also connect us to the past, the present, and the innate urge that humans have to make and use things that are not only functional, but also beautiful.
In addition to the functional work that’s available in my webshop, I’ve also been showing some of my larger sculptural pieces and vases in galleries this year. You can see my work on display in the Curio exhibition at the Patricia Reser Gallery in Beaverton until the end of December.
Blog posts
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Every Day I Have to Cry Some: Reflections on Te...
Last weekend I was at a wedding making conversation with some people I had just met. I had had a glass of wine and some food at this point, and...
Every Day I Have to Cry Some: Reflections on Te...
Last weekend I was at a wedding making conversation with some people I had just met. I had had a glass of wine and some food at this point, and...
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2023: my year in books
This year was a record for me in terms of reading. I read more than any year since I started recording my yearly reading in 2014. This is due in...
2023: my year in books
This year was a record for me in terms of reading. I read more than any year since I started recording my yearly reading in 2014. This is due in...
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Apt. 2: 17 Years and 9 Apartments in Portland
The summer of 2007 I returned to Portland with $1,000 in cash and the promise of a room in a house for $290 a month. I had just spent four...
Apt. 2: 17 Years and 9 Apartments in Portland
The summer of 2007 I returned to Portland with $1,000 in cash and the promise of a room in a house for $290 a month. I had just spent four...
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Apt. 1: 17 Years and 9 Apartments in Portland
I moved into the Taylor Place apartment complex, site unseen, as summer was winding down in September of 2005. My friend Caitlin, her dad, me, and a family friend named...
Apt. 1: 17 Years and 9 Apartments in Portland
I moved into the Taylor Place apartment complex, site unseen, as summer was winding down in September of 2005. My friend Caitlin, her dad, me, and a family friend named...