Carol Wright’s professional career has covered aspects of both the fine arts and design world. After her graduation from VCU with a BFA in Painting and Printmaking, Carol hit the road to California with the intent to pursue an MFA. Somehow that all changed course and she entered the furniture program at California College of Arts. This was a wonderful experience for her, flexing different muscles and leaning into design, a lifelong interest, but never formally studied. This was a fertile time in San Francisco with the burgeoning DIY Maker’s movement creating excitement all across the city. Wright joined a group of local furniture makers that organized exhibitions with retailers and galleries, all of this pre-social media. Her work was represented at retailers in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

        After twenty four years in the Bay Area, Carol returned to her native Richmond and began working with clay, gradually progressing from the wheel, to hand-building and finally slip-casting, where her concepts and interests coalesced. Her work is heavily influenced by textile design, industrial process and color theory.  Color is infused in the clay body, not applied on the surface, to acknowledge the action of making and the movement of the casting slip. The exterior is left in a raw state to again acknowledge, not deny, the process. Color is deeply saturated, but also slightly faded and worn, not unlike a textile that has been washed many times and dried in the sun.