Past traditions in pottery offer a standard for making soulful and enduring work. Influenced by these traditions, I create contemporary pots specifically for use in the home and the beautification of domestic space. My forms are thrown on the wheel, then scraped, smoothed and cut during the leather hard stage. The structural integrity of the clay wall ensures that the form can withstand open cuts and intense heat from the kiln. Pieces that emerge through this method of construction and perforation remain sturdy, offering sophisticated utility. Slip or glaze is used to create contrast with the dark, unglazed clay, or as a thin layer to seal the surface and allow the clay to show through. The pots come into direct contact with flame, ash and salt inside my wood burning kiln.
I am a professional potter working in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. In 1995 I graduated from the Hartford Art School with a BFA in ceramics. Opportunities to continue my clay education in the form of artist-in-residencies, kiln building and teaching brought me around the country, until I settled in New York State in 2001. With the help of a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), I built my wood burning kiln in 2007. My work has been included in many national juried and invitational exhibitions, select private collections, and various publications.