Clay and things
When I was a little kid, I liked to make things. Materials that were available—paint, crayons, toothpicks, rubber bands, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, string, thread, and clay—were the basis of my first creations. In Kindergarten, I split my unstructured time pretty evenly between running around on the playground and painting at an easel or building forts. An unplanned benefit: I learned that making things left the impression on many people that I was being productive. In actuality, it allowed me to look busy while fantasizing and daydreaming, two of my favorite activities even today.
Through the years, I've been very noncommittal in selecting materials with which to look busy. I've built glass sculptures, houses, ferro-cement whale models, steel and fiberglass structures, and wood carvings. What I’ve found most intriguing about working in ceramics is that an artist can mimic almost any other material. Clay can be made to look like fabric, metal, wood, flesh and bone, yet the medium is composed of the most basic elements: earth, water and fire. For thousands of years this primitive material has been crafted by artists into things of beauty, curiosity, functional ware, and historic significance—valuable creations borne out of an inherently valueless resource.
In the spirit of that tradition, I continue to make things. I am currently focused on some new themes, and I rely on clay to translate these concepts into forms that I enjoy. As always, incorporating humor, whimsy and irony in my work completes the circle and rewards me enormously.
I live and work in Borrego Springs, CA.