Most of my work is functional stoneware thrown on an electric potter’s wheel. Some pieces are built from slabs, or a combination of the two techniques. Many of the pots are altered by carving and paddling.After a pot is thrown or constructed, trimmed and dried, I bisque fire it to Cone 04 in an electric kiln. This firing takes about 12 hours. I fire the pot a final time in an electric kiln to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. The glaze firing takes about 15 hours to get to top temperature, then I fire down to 1100 degrees. The entire process of glaze firing takes about 24 hours, then the kiln cools naturally for about a day.
I make all my glazes by hand from ground minerals and metal oxides. The formulas and recipes come from reading, other potters, and my own experimentation. I test the glazes to make sure they can be used in contact with food.
Pottery is the perfect usable art form. Most of the things we use and see every day are mass-produced. In contrast, each piece of handmade pottery is unique, with its own mix of creativity, craft, variation and imperfection. Unlike most art forms, it can be touched and used, not merely observed. Surface, weight and balance are all integral to the character of each piece. The three-dimensional nature of pottery provides a special canvas for decoration.
Any potters who want more detail about my work, firing or glazes, please feel free to contact me.
I started working in clay in 1990 and became a professional potter in 1995. My studio is at my home in Cincinnati, Ohio.
My love of clay was inspired in part by the ancient nature of the art. It grew from our ancestors’ basic needs and love of beauty, and it still serves our needs today. When you use a pot, you are using a piece of the earth shaped and created by a person’s hands and vision.
Awards and Invitationals
Earth in Balance,
Best of Ohio 2005,
Southern
Louisville Dinnerworks 2002, People’s Choice Award
Hyde Park Square Art Show Honorable Mention
Louisville Dessert Works 2003
Second Place Cincinnati
Juried Shows and Exhibitions
All Pots Great and Small, Middletown Arts Center 2007
Clay Alliance Spring Pottery Fair,
Summer Fair,
Hyde Park Square Art Show,
A Nurturing Spirit, Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, Covington, Kentucky 2005
The Art of Food, Celebration Table, Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center 2008
Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center Holiday event, 2007 & 2008
Feast or Famine, Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center 2009
Memberships
Clay
Kentucky Craft Marketing Program
Potter’s Council
5th St.Gallery Artists' Co-op
Education
In Clay:
Workshops: Arrowmont, Appalachian Center for Craft,
Lessons: Larry Watson, Joyce Clancy and Marianne Meyer
In General:
JD,
BA in History,