Artist's Statement

I currently create handbuilt clay objects based on the southern tradition of storytelling. Ideas for a piece can come from superstition, gossip, or personal observation. My favorite clay at the moment is a red earthenware from Georgia, which I throw into large slabs, much like tossing pizza dough on a table.

Dishes and platters, which I call Taletellers, are cut out and laid in molds until they are dry enough to incise with pencils and still hold their shape. These pieces undergo a three firing process beginning with a bisque firing, which enables them to withstand the glazing that follows. The pots are then covered with a black glaze which is wiped away, enhancing the incised stories and the texture of the clay itself. After a second firing, each piece is brushed with a white slip (liquid clay), painted with many layers of brightly colored underglazes, covered with a clear glaze and fired for the final time. Taletellers are food-safe but are delicate and should be washed by hand.

Hearts are a reoccurring symbol in my artistic life. The sculptures here begin as two textured slabs with a drinking straw stuck in between. I use the straw to blow them up like balloons- magic! After they have stiffened, I cut and carve them, make accessories for them and use nine coats of glaze to make them bright red.

The shrines and boxes also begin as slabs cut from templates I make from cardboard. Each piece is truly one of a kind and may be carved, incised, and decorated with a multitude of underglazes and glazes. Some components may be fired as many as five times and assembled with plumber’s epoxy after firing.

The work changes all of the time. I am always learning. In the future I am thinking about paintings on clay. I never know what will happen next. Feel free to ask me about my work and tell me a tale…you never know where it will end up.