After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1981, Craig spent 10 years working as a Jacquard fabric designer in New York, creating woven designs for the furniture industry. She loved the lushness of the yarns and the combinations of the weaves that created these dimensional fabrics but craved a more tactile and personally creative outlet. While in New York she enrolled in a ceramic class with the idea of silk-screening on clay. This was the germination of Tempest Tileworks, a handmade decorative ceramic tile business she started in 1995. The line of image tiles, decorative borders, and field tiles was carried by tile showrooms located around the country. These included Artistic Tile in NYC, Joanne Hudson in Philadelphia, Pratt and Larson in Portland and Renaissance Tile in Atlanta. She filled orders placed by the showrooms for custom backsplashes and bathrooms. In 2005, the business was sold to a partnership in Portland, Oregon. Craig spent three weeks in Portland training and helping set up the business in this new location.
Selling Tempest allowed Craig to further explore the cross-pollination between clay and fabric, which was the inception of Wanderlust Ceramics. In her studio she creates a quirky line of tabletop ware, wired wall sconces, and small sculptures using a silkscreen and slump mold process. Every piece is handmade and unique. Her practice is driven by curiosity, experimentation and chance. “Changing up materials, technique, temperature, and image can lead to new avenues of exploration. Working with clay, there is always more to discover and try out."
A few inspirational influences are Museums of Natural History, especially the Ashmolean Museum, English Delftware of the eighteenth century, and antique etchings and engravings that display not only the talent of the artist but also reveal the history of and connection to lost
worlds.