Breaking Beautiful was my first organized effort to advocate for myself and other women. Throughout girlhood, I had received the message that beauty should look a certain way from the media and society. My hair, my body, my skin were all an affront to this standardized definition. As I looked around my college campus, I saw a world of beauty to be celebrated. My intention with this portrait series was to reclaim our power as women to define beauty for ourselves and to give voice to the uniqueness of each individual.

My name is Veronica and I'm the co-creator at Dale+Aran. I live in the US in Tennessee with my husband (the other half of Dale+Aran) and our 2 year old daughter. I changed the name of our shop a year or so ago when I first started working with clay. Dale is my Dad's middle name, mine and my daughter's. Aran is part of my daughter’s first name plus it is my very favorite place in the world....the Aran Islands in Ireland.

I'm an East TN native who grew up playing outside crushing poke berries, painting on tin with rocks, and digging in the red clay of my backyard. Now I’m a potter! I started my body vessel project in September of 2020 after a diagnosis of a chronic illness. Since then, it's blossomed into a wonderful exploration of loving my body, its limits, and overcoming shame around my illness and imperfections.