Artist Statement

I am a potter because I am mesmerized with clay. I knew the first time I worked with clay that this was the medium for my work. Being a potter satisfies multiple facets of my inner self; I am a designer, an artisan, an engineer, a chemist, a geologist, and a physicist all rolled into one.  I pay special attention to how my functional pottery can be used every day to bring art into people’s lives; enhancing their experience with food and drink, adorning homes and working areas, and providing a necessary ritual to nourish the soul and mind as well the body.

Making pottery is a quiet and personal experience that is reflected in the pots themselves; forms with life. My experience and vision flows through my hands into the clay; a natural expression of self, an unforced genuine flow of person to pot.  My goal is to produce forms that are successful in several ways: functional/comfortable to use, visually appealing/interesting, and whose expression extends beyond function to transform the pots into objects of ritual esteem.

It is the idea that my pottery has a purpose in someone’s life that means something to me. When a patron says, “I have a cup of yours and I drink my tea from it on those rare times I have a moment to myself to relax.”, it gives me a sense of having an effect, a positive effect. That my work can enter into the ceremonies of people’s lives is very important to me.