Butterflies

Every bowl, plate, platter, serving dish and table-top butterfly is made by hand. They all start out as a lump of clay that I either roll into a slab and drape over a form or are thrown on the potter's wheel. Each piece is fired then handpainted, then fired again. Some pieces get a third firing to add metallic accents like gold and copper.
I'm inspired by real butterflies and am always on the lookout for butterflies to photograph or new butterfly books to use as references for new pieces.
I subscribe to Georgia O'Keefe's point of view that things that we see in everyday life should be blown up (enlarged) so that we can stop and take a closer look. You'll never see a small dainty butterfly on one of my plates. I try to paint the butterflies large enough so that they wrap around to the back or down the sides or overlap. This adds the element of surprise and provides multiple ways of displaying the pieces.

Caper White

Gulf Fritillary

Scarce Silverspotted Flambeau

Tiger Swallowtail

Monarch

Tiger

Monarch

Zebra Longwing

Tiger Swallowtail

Gulf Fritillary

Monarch

Tiger

Monarch

Swallowtail

Union Jack

Monarch & Old World Swallowtail