Ceramicist

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I attended Colorado State University as a graphics major. During my time at CSU, I was lucky enough to get a job at school managing the student ceramics studio. What an opportunity; getting paid to play with clay. Over the years I had an on and off relationship with pottery, largely due to studio availability. As a bonsai enthusiast and an artist with an insatiable need to try new things, I turned my hand at making my own pots, in the early years with varying degrees of success.

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Today I am back in the studio, a lot older and a little wiser, and applying decades of bonsai experience to creating pots. I love classical Japanese and Chinese forms, and like putting a modern spin on them. The vast majority of my pots are slab built. Although a challenging way to build containers, I prefer it because you see the artist’s hand that slab building gives (and it sure is hard to throw a rectangular pot on the wheel). Making pots has brought my awareness to the importance of the container in the bonsai composition. I want my pots to compliment the trees they support, but also stand on their own aesthetically.

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I look at creating bonsai containers as a way to explore and play with form. I am branching out to more contemporary expression with my work, and always trying to stretch my skills by experimenting with more challenging shapes, new techniques and larger sizes.  I currently live and work amongst the trees of the beautiful Pacific Northwest.