My first experiences with clay, watching and feeling its reaction to my touch,  happened in the 4th grade.  I was basically hooked  then, but  did not realize it until my college years when I was reintroduced to clay and its magical qualities.  I’ve always enjoyed building and creating things, from model racecars,  airplanes and backyard tree houses to working with wood and metal  in my dad’s shops, but was intrigued by clay  and its intimate responsiveness to the touch of my hand, rather than a grinder or saw.  This intimacy plays itself out with every piece I create today, using  only my hands and a potter’s wheel.  I work with a small series of similar forms,  concentrating on and exploring the subtle aspects of each emerging piece, actually feeling the  shape, as much as seeing it.

The pieces are then surrendered to the fire, where they are transformed again. The clay and glaze combined with heat, interact and produce another variation of what I made. Opening a kiln is always a surprise , good or bad it is never exactly what you  had envisioned. That is the hook and what drives  me to make just one more thing and get it exactly right.