About

I am... Pingree Pottery!  I am Colleen Gripentrog. Pingree is my maiden name and it's also the name I have always used to sign my work. Even though I have been married to my husband Dave for twenty years I still think of Pingree as my artist name.

I make stuff. Always have. Ever since I can remember I have been drawing, painting, playing in the mud (as my Grandma Albert would say:) and creating. After teaching art in Minnesota for twenty four years I now have the time to create the art I am passionate about for the shear joy of the creative process. That starts with a plan, a sketch. When I was teaching I always required this preliminary step from my students and I guess it just stuck.  I also have a lot of ideas and if I don't write them down or sketch them I will forget. I love Sean Connery's line from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: "I wrote it down so I didn't have to remember."

My inspiration comes from being in a quiet, peaceful place, usually with my dog Noodle. Dave calls her my "white shadow". Often times when I have finished a chore, my reward to myself is time with my sketchbook.