statement

I am a handbuilder.

I handbuild functional tableware and bas-relief wall tiles.

I build work with components using clay bodies ranging from porcelain to black stoneware. Some pieces consist of one clay body while others are a combination of clays. 

I prefer to make tableware that complements place settings: salt cellars, candle holders, vases, condiment bowls, trays, trivets, tea bowls and chopstick rests.

I use paper and bisque molds to create surface texture and the interior or exterior shape of trays, bowls, boxes or vases. Most of the time, I begin working with soft slabs. 

My work is intimate and made in limited series whether I’m working on wall pieces or tableware. Integration of surface pattern and form is important. I use a combination of inlaid clays and dipped slips and washes to create surface design. I preplan the sequential steps of how I’m going to build a series, but the outcomes are not preplanned. As I work, I make numerous small decisions. The process is deliberate and spontaneous, slow and satisfying.

Some of my bas-relief wall tiles consist of framed interior spaces. The surface of other tiles is cut and pinched. Some tiles are pushed and stretched to create visual softness. Some consist of forms reminiscent of vegetation or geological features.

I am drawn to:

• juxtaposition, shapes nestled next to one another.

• creases, seams, edges, bulges, niches, containment, concealment, growth, repetition, folds and unfolding.

• the contrast of light clay, dark clay, smooth clay, grogged clay.

• the immediate response of wet clay to my touch and the delayed touch of a flame carrying soda, salt or wood ash.

My wall pieces are not decorative, narrative, or political. My hope is that they are evocative, allowing viewers to bring their own associations to the work. I fire both tableware and wall pieces with wood, sometimes adding salt or in a gas fired soda kiln.