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My true love in pottery is large decorative pieces, particularly vases. I am awed by the large vases produced by the early Greek and Asian potters. I also have a great fondness for the hand formed pottery of the American Southwest Pueblo Indians and the potters of Mata Ortiz in Mexico. What I try to achieve with my pottery is first a pot produced with sound technique i.e. even wall thickness, a well formed lip, a stable base, close fitting lid, securely attached handles, etc. Secondly, I strive to produce pots with beautiful forms. Clearly beauty is in the eye of the beholder but, there are several principles of design and proportion which have passed the test of time and my pottery generally follows those principles. Lastly, I view surface decoration and glazes as a means to add to the beauty of the pot rather than being an end unto themselves.
Biography I have been interested in art since kindergarten. During grade school, high school and college, I did quite a bit of drawing with pencil and pen & ink. I never did much three dimensional work except several huge snow sculptures my brothers and I created while living in Chicago. When I got out of grad school I moved to Seattle in 1981 and got heavily involved in wilderness sports which didn't leave a lot of time for artistic pursuits. I initially got involved in pottery when when my wife, Sandy, signed us up for a beginning pottery class at the local community college in 1992. We both loved it! We had a wonderful teacher named Clay Horton who really emphasized mastering the technique of throwing. We bought a wheel for home and continued to throw at both the school and at home and did all our firing at the school for quite a few years. Sandy kept with it for half a dozen years or so then moved on to sewing while I continued to work at the school for about ten years. When we built our current house in 1997, we built a small pottery studio as part of the workshop. A couple years ago I installed an electric kiln and built a large spray booth. I have been working entirely from my home studio since 2001. I have been selling my work at galleries and art fairs in the Seattle area for over ten years now.
Over the years I have tried many different kinds of pottery and many different firing techniques from raku to cone 10 stoneware as you can see in my gallery of older work. Currently, I focus primarily on decorative pieces and throw a wide range of vases, jars, bowls, and platters. I really enjoy creating large pieces and routinely throw pots from 25 pounds or more of wet clay. Most of my work is stoneware although I do occasionally throw porcelain. I have developed and continue to mix all my own glazes. My current glazes are an attempt to achieve some of the free and spontaneous feel of saggar pottery with cone 6 oxidation glazes. I am also fond of warm colors and high contrasts and my current glazes reflect this as well. |
