Elena was born in Germany and was first introduced to Pottery in 1977 at the Golden Bridge Pottery run by Ray and Debra Meeker in Pondicherry, India. Elena now lives on a farm north of Auckland which gives her the opportunity to use clay from her own land. Her focus has been on making shino glazed bowls and cups - by faceting the exterior of the pot, Elena opens up the clay and exposes all it's impurities to create an interesting surface for the shino glaze to interact with. The iron oxide decoration provides an extra focal point.