About

Artist Statement

I have been working in clay for over 20 years, mostly making functional ware, but also dabbling in sculture, printmaking, photography and mixed media. Being a member of the Colorado Potters Guild since 2006 has given me the opportunity to explore all my clay interests and share the fun of creating with other clay enthusiasts. Clay is a wonderful and endlessly frustrating material. It is the ultimate blank canvas, allowing for ideas to literaly evolve from the dirt. It reflects our inner selves and shows us what lives there.

I believe in beauty. I believe art is a fundamental need. Humans have been compelled to create, to decorate for most of our existence. It’s not enough to make a pot, something that functions, without also focusing on the beauty of the thing. There is such rich history in clay, it tells the evolution of culture, of home, of how people relate to each other and how they celebrate and eat.

In my functional work, I strive to combine the useful object with a sense of beauty and joy. I especially gravitate to drinking vessels, as there is something intimate and personal about them. It is a privilege to share a piece of someone’s morning beverage, an often personal quiet time of the day.

My sculptural work follows similar ideas. How to connect, how to experience and share in joy and beauty. My most recent body of hanging pieces explores the idea of memory, and how time can alter how we perceive and what influence those memories have in the present. I am searching for the universal experiences that bind us. The thoughts, reactions and systems that unite us all on a common journey.

Art evokes emotional response, a gut instinct of something shared, something revealed. Even pots can open us to a moment of revelation, a sense of partaking in a very old, yet very modern experience of being mindful of the present, appreciating the beauty around us. My goal is to help create those moments of stillness, of gratitude, of celebration. We are fed (sometimes literally) by what we surround ourselves with in our lives and home. It is with great joy that I participate in the mess of life by creating objects of beauty, function and celebration.