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Artist Statement

From an amazing black and red Greek kylix to a gracefully carved Chinese celadon-glazed jar, historical pottery has always fascinated me.  When I work with clay I am reminded that pottery is a fundamental part of human history.  Not only can pottery perform a function such as to hold food or a beverage, but it fills a very basic need in the human soul by speaking to it in some way.  My choice is to speak to the human soul through a conversation of beauty.  When someone picks up a carved cup that I have made, their fingers follow the smooth curves of the shape and then they find the carving, a delight to the fingers as well as the eye.  I can tell this person, through my work, that although this world can be filled with ugly things, here is a piece of beauty they can hold in their hand.

 While I make many different types of functional pottery, the cup is my favorite object due to its intimacy with the hand.  I use mid-range stoneware with very fine or no grog, such as Laguna’s B-Mix because it carves smoothly and is a joy to throw.  I employ a number of types of decoration, but carving is my favorite.  My carving is done on leather-hard greenware with a dental tool called a Half Hollenback.  Because I love having as many color choices as possible, I use commercial glazes as well as a few glazes I make myself and then fire to cone 6 in oxidation. 

 In my “Earthbound” series, I have added jewelry to my cups.  I discovered that this addition not only provides visual interest, but changes the piece from just a static piece of art to one with sound and movement!

 I began carving my pottery in 1999 with Celtic knotwork designs, which are still my favorite.  My carving now also encompasses English illuminated manuscript designs, Oriental, Norse, and Mexican historical designs as well as many from my own imagination.  I enjoy new challenges - large bowls are just starting to fill my shop as well as small sculptures.  My future plans include continuing to explore glaze formulation to research the history of ceramics, and creating works of art that are “Works of my Heart.”