Artist Statement

Ever since I was a child, I was intrigued by intricate, repetitive designs. My Grandmother sent me a paisley-printed blouse with patterns and colors that utterly fascinated me, providing inspiration that would come up in my drawings and high school printmaking work.  Following a career of 22 years as a graphic artist while teaching scuba diving, taking underwater photography, traveling to international dive locations and treking through exotic jungles, my artistic work evolved from the printed piece to textural work in the three-dimensional art of clay.  This lifetime of observation in nature’s designs and patterns provides a multitude of textural subjects that I draw on in my ceramic work.  

I use the potter’s wheel as an initial tool in addition to creating hand formed additions.  Utilizing a variety of clays, glazes, firing temperatures and firing process, I employ many technical abilities to achieve desired end results.  My carving work is very textural and references flora, fauna, natural rock formations, as well as animals, patterns and forms I relate to in underwater marine life. 

Despite using a limited amount of tools on each hand-carved piece, I strive to be fresh in every compositional arrangement and form. Like Henri Cartier-Bresson’s view of photography, each cut or texturizational decision I make is instinctively made at the “decisive moment”.  I recognize that every variable I apply can entirely alter the pattern and from there the form.  Further adding to the complexity,  variations of clay additions, stretching the clay, creating textural impressions and applying slips continue to make each piece a truly unique, individual, one-of-a-kind object.