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Playing with mud has been something I have enjoyed all my life from a toddler on. To this day I blame my mother's intolerance for me doing so for making me want it even more. As I began to grow, I encountered my junior high art teacher who encouraged it. From that time on I was hooked. I continued earnestly all through high school and became quite proficient. After graduation, I was distracted with all life had to offer, and lost the fervor for clay I had previously been obsessed with.
I didn't forget mud all together and sometimes snuck into our college studio. I didn't ever go to college until a midlife awakening made me feel like I had wasted my extensive intellect (just kidding). I was confronted with a desire to become more, so I embarked on a degree path to become a high school business and math teacher. Right off the bat in my first semester, I had to take a gen ed art class so to no one's surprise, I took ceramics. One thing led to another and I started my own private studio, changed my degree twice (standard 6 year plan stuff), and ended up getting a BFA as a studio artist. By the time I finished, I had quit my day job, was working as a full time artist, and had discovered AZ art shows in the winter. I then became a snow bird and began doing the Arizona Fine Art Expo.
Clay is the most versatile of all art forms. Anything that can be done with other art forms can be done in clay. I am very A.D.D. (clinically diagnosed) and I love the fact that there is always something new to try in ceramics. Personally, I detest the current direction of modern art. Art to me has always been about craftsmanship and beauty. I don't like ugly art that simply "says" something. I strive for beauty. Most potters work in one type of clay and produce one general type of work. What happens then is, they make a nice bowl, decorate it up, do some special painting, and then you get a $75 cereal bowl that you're afraid to use. So, I have split my work into two lines. For those who will say "what do you use that for" I have a collection of various utilitarian wares that are beautiful, durable, highly functional and best, budget friendly. I want you to use this stuff without fear.
For those who would buy a nice pitcher and then put some dry flowers in it and put it on a shelf, I make art. I have a wide variety of pieces where I strive to create as much beauty as I can get out of mud. I mainly work in a glazing method by which I literally grow crystals in the molten glaze during the firing. This is one of the most difficult types of pottery but it is worth it because the beauty is unmatched. Due to the complexity, it is pretty rare but well worth the effort.