Hello and welcome,

When folks ask me what do I do for living I say I am a potter. I’ve said this even while working as a park ranger for the National Park Service. 

I guess I’ve always been an artist and potter since I was kid. 

My first experience with clay was in an art class in high school where we made pinch pots and “painted” glazes from a jar onto the thick walled clay having no idea what we would produce. These pots still sit handsomely in my parents dining room next to some of my later works. Looking at some of these early works I created long ago, I see the beginnings of my stylized markings even then.

Years later, my first real pottery class was in 1990 in Yellow Springs, Ohio where I learned to center clay on a kick wheel contraption that looked like it was built during the beginning of the industrial age where you stood and kicked a lever to the side to get the wheel to turn. 

The allure of clay was there but due to my transient lifestyle, clay wasn’t part of the plan yet. Ten years later, while working for Idaho State Parks, I returned to clay by taking an adult learning clay class in Boise, Idaho —  a one way drive that was an hour and 15 minutes away. This is where clay became my focus and within a few months I bought a pottery wheel and have been making pottery ever since. 

Today, I make pottery that is functional and (hopefully) aesthetically pleasing.  I design a lot of my pots from ideas I collect while hiking outside, be it my backyard or in wooded parks, and mountainous landscapes. Like a lot of artists, the lure of the natural world has always sparked wonderment for me and I try to show it in my pottery. As a kid, I was lucky to explore a woods that stretched a mile or two from our backyard. Family camp outings also strengthen my fondness for the out-of-doors. Often while hiking and bird watching, nature offers endless ideas about shape and design.

I’ve been fortunate to have had a diverse career that has led me to various locales through out the United States and in Ecuador as a Peace Corps volunteer. These experiences continue to influence me as I create through clay.

What I like about functional clay pots is that you can enjoy their artistic expression and textual connection at the same time.  When you hold a mug of coffee to start your day or when gathering with friends and share stories over a warm bowl of chili, I hope you find a connection to my pottery.