The unseen potential clay offers, and engaging in the processes by which it can be changed from formless dust and water, to a solid permanent structure, is what draws me to the medium. Through these processes, I endeavor to make pieces that are aesthetically interesting and compelling. Using the potter’s wheel, my vessel forms are both functional and decorative. My patrons desire one-of-a-kind designs for their functional ware and find those designs that resonate with them in my work. As chief cook in my kitchen I conceive and use my own designs. My inspirations for figural sculpture are Michelangelo and Rodin for their gifts to render expressiveness through the human form. For my own figural works, I use clay-modeling techniques working from live models and then employ the wheel and hand techniques to create environments for them. Having more ideas than the time to try them, and the feeling of being on the way to the next discovery in clay is ever present in my studio work.
I am grateful to the ceramics expressionists, namely Peter Voulkos for leading the way to bringing ceramics into the world of fine art, and Paul Soldner who is remembered for his development of the American Raku technique. Raku firing for me is the most exciting and adds a vibrancy that enlivens ceramic works like nothing else. I have developed methods of Raku firing which approximate surfaces and colors created in Native American pottery with a special interest in the Pueblo traditions. Clay is a humble material which I use to create intimate functional forms, pleasing decorative forms, and limitless sculptural forms. It is a means of expressing my ideas and is an important and respected medium in today’s art world. To ensure new generations of ceramic artists, I have spent much of my time teaching, demonstrating, and modeling artistic habits to high school students. I look forward to seeing what comes next in the world of clay with eager anticipation