I have been challenging clay since I was 12 years old and with my wife Liz since 1969. Clay has always been the root of my creative spirit. I am committed to the integrity of the hand made item. Each work originates from my hands only. We employ no others to assist in making our pottery. For any hand made item to qualify as art it has to hold within the making process a series of problem solving events which are unique to that single object. Not two conclusions or end results are ever the same. Each work will be unique and therefore will qualify, without doubt, as art.

 

Through a life of potting I have made a wide variety items with clay:

Tall floor lamps, Baptismal Fonts, Kitchen Sinks, Bathroom counter and pedestal sinks, coffee tables, hanging lamps, wall plaques, fountains, a functional toilet, drums, oil lamps, and about any functional vessel imaginable.

 

This lifetime of clay continues to develop into deeper exploration. In the last three years I have been exploring forms produced on the wheel that abandon function. These forms are called Non-Pots, Tea-nots, and Anti-Platters. These new forms have allowed a wider exploration of carved decoration. In making my "pots" I have two basic challenges, first to conceive of an interesting form and second, to study that form and allow a linear decoration to emerge. Although I enjoy these new non-functional forms, there is no greater joy than the making of vessels and their endless variations. I particularly enjoy "engineered" pots which can be often over 4 foot tall. These pots are made with sections that are calipered one to the next to produce an overall pleasing form. I love the challenge of control over both form and decoration.

 

I fire in a gas reduction kiln to a high cone 10 stoneware temperature. This produces vitreous clay that is water tight without the need of a glaze to seal it.  The scale of my work ranges from 4 inches to well over 4 foot tall and in a price range from $12.00 to $2,000.00.