Illinois

Biography

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, I now live and work as a full-time studio potter in Edwardsville, Illinois where I earned my MFA degree in 1997 from Southern Illinois University,  I enjoy teaching several workshops a year for clay guilds, art centers and other educational institutions, and my pottery is exhibited nationally where it has won a variety of awards in exhibitions such as the NCECA Clay National, Clayfest 2003, and the Utilitarian Ceramics National, among others.

Statement

My aesthetic sensibilities are deeply influenced by my family’s rustic contemporary home in the woods that was filled with primitive antique furniture, old tools, crockery, stringed musical instruments, an eclectic mix of china and glassware, and shelves overflowing with books.  The rough and refined elements of the house and its contents combined into a simmering stew of influences which now filters down into my work, in both strong and subtle ways, as I seek forms and surfaces that reflect my aesthetic instincts.

As a second career, I have been making pots consistently now for about 14 years.  Pieces that are scaled for table or kitchen use hold the greatest interest for me.  I interact with these pots repeatedly during the various stages of the making process, and it is my hope that they will become an active part of the household where they reside.  Bowls, lidded containers, drinking vessels, vases, and a wide variety of pouring pots comprise the majority of my output.