Since I was a child, I have always been designing things. I started with egg cartons and paper towel tubes. In jr. high, I learned to sew and began making original garment patterns. My oldest sister said, "You are a designer. You can go to school for that." So, I did...and ultimately I earned a Ph.D. in Textiles and Clothing. During and after my graduate program, I taught undergraduate apparel design courses at a university.

My polymer clay interest began while I was in graduate school and when I left my academic career, I decided polymer would be my new career. I sell my work at a few local craft shows and in galleries, but I guess I don't have the attention span for production work. As I have pursued new techniques for teaching and publication, I have I returned to my first love, designing.

Picking up the thread of teaching again in the past couple of years, this time in the polymer clay community, has given me great satisfaction. I’ve always enjoyed watching students learn and grow. I believe the most important aspect of teaching is to facilitate a student’s search for a personal voice with which to express their own creativity.

I have always lived in the Midwest and I feel deeply tied to the land and the seasons. I'm often inspired by nature, I love to watch the sun rise and set, and I love to grow vegetables to feed family and friends. I'm an aspiring gourmet cook and my husband might rather keep me busy in the kitchen than in the studio. Well, I haven't mixed up clay and bread in the oven yet...

Patricia Kimle

January 2004