Photo 2003 by Susan Atefat-Peckham

Jess Edwards has held the positions of retail manager, published poet, and professor of composition before (re)turning her attention to the handiwork of pottery. While finishing her bachelor’s degree, she studied metalsmithing and jewelry design, ceramics, and textiles. Though her advanced studies led her to a MS in English education and a MFA in Creative Writing, she has finally revisited her love of clay. All of her earthenware products are made entirely by her from design to embellishment procurement (an elevated way of saying she picks up leaves and feathers when she goes on walks or buys scraps of lace at the local fabric peddler), from construction to glazing using lead-free glazes. In addition to “playing in the mud,” as she likes to put it, Jess Edwards works in a variety of other media, volunteers at a no-kill animal shelter, and teaches writing part-time at LaGrange College. She and her beloved husband live in Georgia with their five four-legged daughters.