When I first started working with clay, I was entranced by the allure of functional pots, the beauty of making objects for use, to touch and to hold, wonderful pots that enrich and add delight to our daily lives. I've always been a 'maker', from artwork, sketchbooks, and things handmade, to gardens, building, and design work. As a potter, I'm challenged by many issues - the making of pots engages design, aesthetics, physical skill and a myriad of technical miracles. It also draws on my studies in geology and biology, and I've realized over the years how all of these interests tie in to the making of the pots that I make.

 

My work is made with porcelain. It is a wonderfully rich clay with beautiful surface qualities offering both depth and brilliance in glazing. It is defined by its extreme durability, distinctive smooth white color, and a unique bell like ring. Slowly over time the clay, its whiteness, and translucent yet enduring quality, have melded with my passion for beautiful form, strong lines, rich color and gestural drama.

 

My work includes pots to use and pots whose function is more aptly understood as 'aesthetic' function. I'm also drawn to architectural design, animal imagery, and sculptural exaggerations. It can feel like there are too many ideas, perhaps too many themes going on in my studio, but I think that it is not a simple process to learn where your best pots will be made. There is an intimacy to a functional pot, that of knowing how to touch, to approach, and to think about the piece as something to use. There is a different pleasure in work that speaks of elegant forms, of grace and beauty, or of luminous glaze surfaces that are vibrant with color. In most of my work, I try to find a way to catch a touch of the intrigue that may lay between the two.