Rebecca May Verrill

Portland — Rebecca May Verrill has been working with clay, teaching and firing kilns for nearly 20 years. She is a native of the foothills of Western Maine, where she first developed her love of creating objects from the natural world. After 10 years in Taos, New Mexico, teaching art, building and firing wood kilns, developing clay and fiber wares and working on collaborations with area artists, she received her Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics at the State University of New York at New Paltz, with a special focus on native clays. Her bright color choices of turquoise and terra cotta, yellow and shades of green give nod to years of living in the colorful Southwest.

Rebecca’s current body of functional work is primarily formed on the potters wheel with earthenware, often altered and low fired in an electric kiln. Her nature inspired contemporary ceramics  employ a variety of layered surface design. Working with both red and white earthenware is a conscious material choice that relates to her interests of sustainability and a lower impact on the planet. 

Rebecca’s signature abstract plant designs are individually cut out by hand for use as stencils, then carved and often further embellished with water etching, masking, various printmaking techniques, dots and screen printed imagery. She hopes that those who use her work will enjoy it as much as she has enjoyed creating it.