About

I’ve been getting my hands muddy for over 30 years. I first fell in love with clay during my junior year in college at Florida Atlantic University. I went on to take every clay class offered, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. After college I took clay classes at the Ceramic League of Miami. I eventually became a member, and taught the Saturday morning “kids” class at CLM.

Up until seven years ago, clay was a stress reliever for my day job in the corporate world. I’ve been able to shift gears and it’s been fun to see my work evolve. My personal goal as a ceramic artist is simple: I want to make you smile; if you laugh all the better. There is so much stress in this world, an occasional smile is good for the soul and laughter helps tame any stresses we encounter in our daily lives.

Inspiration for my work is found in the animal world. A lot of artists say that, but if you take a look at my work, every last piece relates to non-human life forms. I love making fish teapots and I love fish. I’m in awe of the natural beauty of reef fishes and often wonder what life would be like for fish if they had mirrors and were aware of their beauty. Would their lips not be plump enough? Would their tails be too fat? What if they had human phobias? Would their natural beauty take a back-seat to their own self-image? Maybe I’ve been spending too much time alone in the studio, but it’s something that I think about. Fish have no idea of how beautiful they are; they’re just happy to be swimming around.

I’ve been making butterfly-themed pieces for a few years now. I got started making the butterflies as a special request. From there, my travels down the butterfly path have turned into an obsession. The current series that I’m working on is a take-off on how we humans name things. There are butterflies named after tigers, zebras, peacocks and on and on. There are fish named for butterflies. So, what better union than to join the Butterfly-tail Goldfish with its namesake the butterfly? Synergy at its best!

Now for how I do what I do. My work is 100% handmade. It's not slipcast, which means that each piece is unique. Most pieces start out on the potter’s wheel and then have hand-built additions. I use low-fire earthenware clay with commercial low-fire glazes, all of which are non-toxic. Each piece is fired at least twice in my kiln. Some pieces are fired as many as four or five times, for different glaze layering effects.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have my pieces spread to the four corners of the world. I’m eternally grateful to those people that “get it” and are able to chuckle when they see my work. When all is said and done, my creatures are my emissaries of good will and hopefully will be my legacy