Artists Statement
Art has always been a part of my life. My mother was a graduate of The Julliard School studying piano, bassoon, and spent some time drawing. Her grandfather, a Russian immigrant who lived with us when I was a child, was a tailor of fine clothing. My Great Uncle, also from Russia and with whom I was very close, painted landscapes while he made his living as a house painter. My uncle was a talented painter and musician. My parents saw the value in art and took me and my siblings to museums, concerts, Broadway plays, and to our chagrin forced us to take music lessons. Despite all this, I was more interested in athletics than arts and went to college to become a physical education teacher. That career path didn’t last very long.
There was never a conscious decision to do art or to become an artist. It’s not the kind of activity one decides to do. It's more like something that gets done because it has to. My movement towards art was natural and I knew it was right. Clay entered my life as a random encounter in 1971. John Jessiman, my teacher, was an Alfred grad who was a wonderful potter and teacher. He mesmerized me with his fluidity and ease with clay. After seeing him throw I decided I wanted to be a potter. At Rhode Island School Of Design, Norm Schulman was unforgiving, rigid, and set in his ways. I learned alot from Norm and the whole scene there. The year spent at RISD was the most influential experience in my decision to work with clay.
I am a maker of clay objects, shaping and imbuing them with my passion and desire to make the medium sing. I have been involved with clay full time since 1975, making, teaching, writing, and operating my studio. My work derives from a tradition of functional vessels. My choice of shapes and the wheel-throwing methods I use comes from the concept that pottery forms have a volume and are formed from the inside out and the bottom up with the interior negative space defining the outward appearance.
Surfaces define the shape with textures that expand and grow during the forming process. The surface of my pots are a skin that defines and communicates what lies beneath. I’m influenced by my observation of the visual images and tactile objects around me: rock faces, landscapes, tree bark, raw earth; the colors of sand, sky, oceans, sunsets; the patina of copper; lava rocks, worn concrete sidewalks, the green mold that grows on shingles and fence posts; grass, moss, coral, man-made surfaces and more.
I am inspired by the connection that my son and I had through our common bond of this earth bound, plastic, expressive material that is underfoot and that so many people take for granted. I am inspired by the ability to speak through the language of clay that Jared and I naturally and fluently shared with each other.
I work and teach from my studio in Needham, Massachusetts and I teach at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts. I have been blessed to have my work as a clay artist, teacher, and writer, known internationally. I have written five widely distributed books on Raku and the business of clay. My work has been exhibited widely in museums, galleries, and public spaces. It resides in many public and private collections, museums, corporations in the US and internationally.
I speak the language of clay and Raku is my dialect.