Miranda Josephine Thomas was born in Palisades, New York, but spent most of her childhood in Italy and Australia. At the age of 16, her art teacher, Ross McBride, introduced her to pottery. It immediately became her passion, and she soon decided to pursue pottery as a career.

Both Miranda’s parents are British, and a talent for design runs in the family; Miranda’s grandfather is the famous architect Arthur Joseph Davis, who designed the The Ritz Hotel in London from the exterior down to the doorknobs, as well as interiors of legendary ocean liners including The Aquitania and The Queen Mary. Influenced by this history, Miranda decided to return to England for her university training.

She received her BA in Ceramics from West Surrey College of Art & Design in Farnham, England, in 1981. During her time at art school, she completed a year-long apprenticeship with Michael Cardew, CBE, the famous pioneer of modern craft pottery. It was while working with Michael, in the heart of Cornwall, that she not only honed her skills as a thrower, but also formed in her mind a lifestyle in which to make pots, drawing inspiration from the English countryside. After graduation she worked with world-renowned English luster glaze decorator Alan Caiger-Smith at Aldermaston Pottery for two years to further develop her skill and technique.

Thomas moved back to the United States in 1983 in order to design and create a line of pottery for glassblower Simon Pearce in Quechee, Vermont. There she was reacquainted with her former classmate from art school, Charles Shackleton, who was working for Pearce as a glassblower, and in 1986 they were married. In 1988, Miranda and Charles left Simon Pearce and established their own businesses in their basement, gaining full control over their art.

Apart from her strong skills as a thrower, Miranda has an extremely in-depth and broad range of knowledge of many different decorative techniques, involving brushwork, slip carving, and glazes. Her pots are designed for simple everyday uses, but she uses them as a medium to convey a broad range of ideas and feelings about her life.

Miranda Thomas now works with a team of potters to produce her designs. She is also a visiting professional artist at Harvard University, teaching workshops and master classes on pottery history and technique to undergraduates and alumni. Her work has been commissioned for international dignitaries such as Pope John Paul II and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and most recently Ban Ki Moon. She lives in Bridgewater, Vermont with Charles and their two children, Sophia and Hugh.