ARTIST STATEMENT

My ceramic sculptures are organic in form and inspired by nature. My inspiration is wide ranging and includes my environment, memories of my travels and love of the ocean. I feel drawn to forms found in nature and to nature itself. The found objects I draw my inspiration from are: bones, shells, rocks, coral, seeds, driftwood or fragments of these found treasures. I observe the round and wavy curves and also the jagged sharp edges that influence my work. I contemplate their existence. How long it took to become smooth, weathered, warped, bleached, corroded, crusty or cracked. That is what excites me about the raku finish. I can take a fresh, new piece of clay and give it a look of aged existence. I try to give each of my pieces that same feeling of age, as if the object has been sitting on the bottom of the ocean or buried for some time allowing the viewer to ponder. Some of my work is void of color. It makes one wonder from where this form came; land or water; animal or plant? This body of work is my ‘Coral Series’. I use copper greens metallic, and lithium blues to achieve and mimic the colors I remember while diving through coral reefs. The gestural movement and rhythm of the cylindrical forms seem as if to be growing out of the ocean floor.

All of my sculptures in this series are hand built, one of a kind, and made of stoneware clay. After creating the pieces, I bisque fire in an electric kiln, then glaze, and fire once again in a raku kiln. This is how the crackle surface is achieved. What I enjoy most about this glaze and firing technique is the varying end results. Each piece is unique and can never be duplicated. It is always a thrill to open the kiln and see what awaits.  This keeps me motivated and excited to continually experiment with this process.