"My introduction to clay occurred in the fall of 1971 when I entered the pottery studio at Southwest Missouri State University for the first time.  I had just completed a required art foundations course during the summer term and, as a result, had decided to switch my major from biology to art. 

The attraction was immediate – I was smitten.  The sensuous feel of the clay, the magic of the transformation as lump became vessel while the wheel spun and hands coaxed the clay, and the wonderful alchemy that took place as fire returned the clay to its original stony state – these are but a mere few of the enticing qualities of the process and product of pottery that wooed me in the first place.

As is true with anybody who begins a relationship with clay, the initial infatuation quickly gave way to frustration as my awareness of my shortcomings grew.  I made all too many clunky, misshapen pieces during the arduous process of attempting to master the wheel.  One quickly learns that patience and perseverance are the only  way to achieve any level of mastery.

What has held my fascination over the years is the knowledge that making pottery offers endless opportunities for creativity and inventiveness.  The infinite variations of form and decorative effect can never be exhausted.  Subtleties  often dictate the difference between a good pot and a great one.  The relationship of all parts of a pot and how the parts add up to the whole – again, infinite possibilities.

Another of pottery’s charms for me has been the notion that – technological advances not withstanding – making pottery is a craft that has remained basically the same for thousands of years. Historians estimate that the potters’ wheel was invented approximately five thousand years ago somewhere in the Tigris-Euphrates basin.  Pottery making developed concurrently with the development of civilized settlements.  Agriculture and a settled existence required storage vessels for the stock-piling of foodstuffs.  Baskets and other primitive vessels proved inadequate.  And so over the course of time, clay vessels were discovered to be useful in this regard.  It is quite likely that the first “pots” were clay covered baskets;  eventually one of these was accidentally put near or on the warming fire…and it was discovered that the clay had hardened beyond the natural brittleness of dried clay.  Tools were created from found objects and eventually were intentionally fashioned to meet specific needs.   And so it went until one day it was discovered that spinning the clay vessel as it was being fashioned could hasten the process and assist with the creation of symmetry.  And thus the craft of forming pottery on a spinning wheel was discovered and developed, refined over the course of time, as were all other aspects of the overall process of creating, decorating, and firing a ceramic vessel.  And so, as I sit at my wheel fashioning each new piece, I am aware that what I am doing is an artistic endeavor that has a long, unbroken lineage going back several thousand years.  To me, that’s an amazing thing to think about.

My work has had many influences as my skill and personal aesthetic have undergone their parallel development.  I owe a great debt to my both my undergrad professor, Lane Elkins, who remains one of the most incredibly self-sufficient persons I’ve ever encountered, and to my graduate professor, Cecil “Gib” Strawn, whose tutelage greatly tuned my eye for beauty and good form in pottery.   Other countless potters from various eras and regions, whose work has stood the test of time, have all contributed to my aesthetic development.  In particular, I can site Marguerite Wildenhain, Bernard Leach, Michael Cardew, Shoji Hamada, John Glick, Jeff Oestreich, Clary Ilian, Steven Hill, and, in general , the works of the classic Greek potters and those of China, Korea, and Japan. 

Mere functionality has never been good enough to satisfy the human craving for beauty.  Pottery throughout the ages has had to be both practical and beautiful.  And even though we have, over the centuries, invented other solutions to the problems of storing and serving food, beautiful hand-made pottery still satisfies in ways that plastic, cardboard, and Styrofoam never will.  Every day of my life at home begins with a fragrant and delicious steaming hot cup of freshly brewed coffee, served up in a beautiful Clary Ilian mug, given to me years ago by my dear friend and former student, Gina Caruso.  My morning coffee is a ritual with its attendant ritual object, a daily routine that is nearly sacramental in nature."