Abby Boeltram

Although I'm an accountant by trade I have always loved to create. I first started working with Precious Metal Clay (PMC) in 2013 and was hooked when I witnessed a lump of clay magically turn into a beautiful shiny silver piece. For many years I loved creating jewelry with this medium but when my husband was diagnosed with cancer it became unaffordable and I put the PMC aside when I had to retire my career to care for the love of my life. When my husband passed in 2023, I moved to North Carolina (NC), a state known for its pottery communities. Upon moving to NC I joined a community studio and started taking hand-building and throwing lessons. I love hand-building and have made some very poor pieces and some very good pieces. I'm still in the learning stage and adding texture and color to my pieces is what draws me to create. I have struggled with wheel throwing but have found a mentor who has taught me how to control the clay on the wheel rather than letting the clay control me and I've since made a few perfect functional pieces. I have also learned that some of mistakes on the wheel combined with hand-building create some fabulous pieces. My biggest influences in my creative life are my late husband who taught me not to give up on my dreams and nature. Nature holds some of the most wonderful textures and most brilliant colors an eye has ever seen.