Stacked Covered Jar Sculpture

Special Techniques: As a result of my production potter’s background, I developed a very sound technical foundation and I try to utilize those skills in much of my work. Recent interests center on efforts to encourage clay to do the things it, as a material is best suited for. These include stretching, cracking and generally celebrating its plasticity that is unique to this material. Clay can be fluid, brittle, resistant or malleable. I try to incorporate physical and visual tension in pieces I create. Influences: Nature is by far my biggest influence. Geography and geology have impacted my visual choices for most of my life. Rock formation, mountain ranges, river valley, deltas, beach sand from close up or 30,000 feet high have always had strong pull on my aesthetic heart strings. Japanese architecture, decorative arts and furniture design have a strong influence on everything from my architectural work, garden design, lighting design and of coarse my work in clay. Concepts I Explore: The concepts I explore are what I hope the viewer experiences, those include contemplation, quietness, dignity and process, arrived at by attention to line, form, scale, volume and posture of the piece. I hope the work is compelling in that a person wants to spend time with the piece and that viewing / using / living with it is a rich experience. My hope would be that those qualities / concepts I try to communicate in my work shows up in the world more often in everything we do every moment of every day.