Ceramics

A little bit about Ceramics

I am a Birmingham native who got the ceramics “bug” while attending school at UAB. After finishing school, many years passed without any work in clay. About 10 to 12 years ago I caught the “bug” again and purchased a kiln, some clay and dug out all of my old tools and got to work. Without having any former, or any at all for that matter, training in the wheel, I began to figure out a way to produce wares without a wheel or any clue of how to use it. Hand-building with coils of clay was too tedious and I soon began to employ the use of slabs.

All works begin with hand rolled slabs of clay. A library of templates in various sizes and shapes are utilized to guide the cutting of the slabs into the desired shapes. I allow these parts to become leather hard in order to facilitate the ease of assembly. After the edges of the slabs are chamfered, scored and slipped, I carefully bring the parts together and pinch the joints to completion.

Each work is individually designed and created with particular attention to form and color. Each is inscribed with a Roman numeral upon completion, for cataloging purpose and to give a name the individual pieces. My work has a masculine and geometric flavor, however the work itself is quite organic as the template design begins with a more feminine hourglass shape. Particular embellishments are used at times, yet my desire is to create elegance with simplicity.