Red Lodge Clay Center Short-Term Resident (AIA) 2016
Born 1955 Long Island, NY
In 1978 I exchanged the ocean for the mountains, moving to Colorado.
After a life-time of creating art as hobby I made the decision to be an artist in 1990. Exploring many different mediums I found clay in 1995, finding more than just a medium, clay became a sort of muse to me. I put everything else away, and over 20 years later find it just as exciting and fulfilling to work with today as that very first experience.
I am self-taught, grateful to all the artists past and present that have, and continue to, inspire my work and my drive to experiment and grow as an artist.
My work is inspired by my life, the things I’ve seen, and experienced. I bounce between figural and organic subject matter, the human experience and the natural world, using hand building or slip cast and altered techniques.
The finishing of my pieces stray from the traditional methods of ceramics finishing, as I use post-fired mediums to complete my work. Working largely with acrylic paints and washes, layering color over color to create an illustrative feeling to the pieces I create. Post-fired mediums allow me to develop the end process of my pieces, giving them whatever it is that they need to meet my intentions for the work.
In the studio I am able to process my experiences, my memories, and tell my stories in clay, hoping to touch the viewer by connecting to similar experiences. Because of my artistic ‘up-bringing’ (being self-taught), I find it very important to give back to the community and share my love of clay through workshops and classes in my studio space. I have created in a semi-public studio since 2007, inviting others to experience clay and create during neighborhood Art Walks and scheduled events.