Caryn and Wayne met in 1977 at a modern dance class at the West Coast Macaroni Factory. Wayne was living and working in an artist warehouse, the West Coast Macaroni Factory in East Oakland.  Caryn was living in San Francisco and working in a pottery studio.  They fell in love on the dance floor. In less than 6 months they decided to join forces and live and work together.

    Before they met, Wayne took classes at San Francisco State College, and studied pottery with Marguerite Wildenhain for 7 summers (not consecutive)in Guerneville, California.  In the 60’s he had an Art Gallery in North Beach, San Francisco where he sold his pottery and paintings.  Then in the early 70’s, he lived, in Chile for 2 years making and selling pottery.  He and friends lived on a piece of land called  Las Agilas, ‘The Eagles’ where they dug their clay and made glazes from ash and the few materials available to them.  When he returned to the USA wanting to remain connected with his Chilean experience he named his pottery North Eagle.

    Caryn, a graduate of University of Michigan had also taken art classes at, Michigan State University, and California College of Arts and Crafts.   She came to California via a freight train in 1976.   Caryn credits her success to what she learned from Marguerite Wildenhain during the 2 summers she spent at Marguerite’s Pond Farm studio and school in Guerneville, California.

Wayne and Caryn were married at Pond Farm in 1979. Over the years, they have shown and sold their pottery in shops and galleries all over the United States.

    Caryn and Wayne moved to Santa Rosa in 1981 to be closer to Marguerite in her old age. And in 1987 they bought the property where they presently reside, have studios, a gallery and gift shop, and teach classes of adults and children, as well as have a choose and cut Christmas tree farm.  They have one daughter, Maya who is extremely talented!  They feel much blest.

    In 2003, they changed their pottery’s name to Valley of the Moon Pottery, since the area where they live and work is called Valley of the Moon.  After a brief period of signing their pieces Valley of the Moon or VOM they resumed signing them North Eagle or North Eagle Pottery because after 30 some years of signing North Eagle, VOM just didn’t feel like the right signature.  The confusion will give historians something to ponder and write about.