Hi, I’m Autumn! I am potter from Ajax, Ontario. When I am not working with clay, I love to bake (and eat!) sourdough bread, sail or play board games with my large family, and hang out with our yellow lab, Washburne.
Many people ask me how and why I chose the name “Fainting Goat”. With that unique name comes a story.
I have, since childhood, lived with chronic joint pain and fatigue. Doctors were baffled by an array of seemingly disconnected complaints.
In my early twenties, I began experiencing daily migraines and a worsening of my fatigue. This coupled with a severe sports injury left me physically unable to continue developing my career as a working chef. Reconstructive knee surgery and thorough medical investigations began in 2016.
During this time I stumbled across a video of “fainting” or “narcoleptic” goats with a genetic condition called myotonia congenita, which affects the muscular system causing sudden rigidity of the limbs. They are often seen to “faint” when surprised or excited. Human patients who suffer from myotonia also experience this muscle stiffness, as well as frequent falls.
I was eventually officially diagnosed, not with narcolepsy, but with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome in December of 2017. Still, I felt a sort of kinship with these little “fainting” goats, and was struck by their pluckiness.
Goats are resilient, navigating some of the roughest terrain on the planet with ease and finding sustenance in the most hostile environments. Goats are fearless. Whether climbing to seemingly impossible heights or defending their territory, mates, or young against predators, goats are the tenacious herbivores that never quit!
Living with disability can be very difficult, physically, creatively and emotionally. But I have been inspired by the playful and adventurous spirit of this little creature and its’ determination to overcome adversity and hardship. They remind me to keep getting up when I fall down, to laugh at the curveballs life throws, and to accept myself, “warts” and all. Plus, they are soooo cute in pyjamas!
I hope that every time you use your one of a kind Fainting Goat vessel, you too are inspired to keep climbing, keep trying, and keep on smiling!
Sourdough Bread 
Aboard our vessel SV Jadzia in the Chesapeake 
Coffee and Board Games