Octavia Tyron studied art at New Paltz in New York and obtained her bachelor'sdegree in Art Education.  The reason she pursued her Art Education degree was to get away from being lectured to in her classes at the university, and enable her to express her own ideas and artwork.  She then moved to Colorado and studied with Jim Valone and has also studied ceramics with Jim and Nan McKinnel.  After studying with other artists she started teaching at the Boulder Pottery Lab.  During this time Octavia bought Blacksmith Ridge Farm and built a studio for her to have a convenient, sufficient place to work on her art.  Nowadays she works in the studio as much as she can, specializing in hand-made paper using natural materials found by riverbanks or along hiking trails.  She also works in pottery, creating beautiful ceramics using nature as her inspiration.  Octavia finds that art helps with the depression caused by her disability, diagnosed at age 23, Bi-polar disorder.  Her artwork is wonderfully hand-crafted and is a joy to experience.