I hand build functional art pottery using an earthenware clay I make, creating usable food-safe pots more durable than traditional earthenware from Italy or Mexico. I hand build each piece, pinching coils and rolling out slabs I can drape over shapes, slice then reassemble, pinching, paddling and scraping into the form I want. But I'm always aware of the function of the piece so lids fit and pitchers don’t dribble. Like most artisans, I am employing the technical knowledge gained from years of practicing my craft to create whatever I can imagine whatever I see in a dream or in the clay itself.

So sometimes these organic forms need feet or a nose or a grin. It makes me laugh when they come out of the kiln, with their own personality.

And sometimes a piece needs the colors or a design…or a museum exhibit that seems to sketch itself, wrapping around the pot.

The soft glaze colors I make along with a few bright commercial colors are all food safe. They are painted over a white glaze using calligraphy brushes then the painted piece is dipped in a clear glaze.

In the high heat of the kiln, colors intensify, glazes bond to the clay. The finished pot is a marriage of art and craft unique to my hand and vision.