JoAnne Bedient has been a resident of Ft Myers since the 1980's after growing up in Virginia, and living in Kansas where she received her degree from Ft Hays Kansas State University with a major in ceramics. She spent the next few years raising her daughters before setting up her ceramic studio and becoming a full time ceramic artist. JoAnne mainly handbuilds and raku fires her creations. She is probably best known for her fun and whimsical clay shoes, but adds teapots, birds, perfume bottles, fortune cookies, and whatever strikes her fancy at the time to her list of items she creates. Her work can be found in galleries and museum shows around the United States, and in collectors homes throughout the world!