2301 1st Avenue North, Ste 102: Alabama Literacy Council

I am mostly self-taught as a ceramist, through much research and development, also known as trial and error.  I have also taken opportunities to further my knowledge and skills at Penland School of Craft, John C. Campbell Folk School and Montevallo University, where I began my ceramic adventure in 1998.

It is important for me to maintain a hand-crafted look, for the users to at-a-glance know a human hand created the piece.   The dinner and serve ware I currently promote are high-fired stoneware in addition to low-fired work for added color richness.  I also produce Raku fired tiles that are designed to be building blocks for larger pieces of work; tile quilts, so to speak.

My work is hand-built, generally from slabs, and I also employ the use of an extruder.  The forms are organic and simple; my artistic focus is surface texture and color.  I render graphic images in underglazes and add texture with hand-made stamps.  The glazes I use are primarily custom glazes I develop in my studio. 

A love of flowers and gardening has motivated my work in the past and will continue to do so.  I am also greatly inspired by contemporary design and suspect my work will reflect this as it evolves.

I have recently moved in a new direction altogether that includes painting.  The remark has often been made to me that my ceramics have a graphic quality, so painting and two-dimensional work seems a natural progression.

I have been marketing my ceramic wares in Birmingham for the last ten years.  I have galleries and shops that promote me.  I also participate in many local art fairs.