Self Portrait: Pithoi forms with heritage photo decals
About
I have been a potter for 40 years and have been operating out of my studio in Crockett since 1994. Many of my customers are my neighbors, and the beauty and charm of this small town has influenced my work.
I believe that using and living with a well-designed and handmade functional object brings a quality experience to the everyday act of living. A functional pot becomes complete by the act of use: by filling it up and emptying it. This is the moment when the piece is fully experienced.
The necessity of eating and drinking offers the potter an opportunity to connect with a wide range of people in an intimate way. Historically, pottery has played an important role in ceremony and ritual. The symbolism of shape and decoration was not lost on the Greeks and Romans, and the act of holding a vessel in hand and bringing it to one’s lips to sip from is an irresistible ceremonial opportunity. Cultures throughout time have devised a language of shape and motif that communicate their individualized and universal beliefs.
I look to the forms of history for information and inspiration. I am struck by how little our basic needs have changed: containment of liquids and foodstuffs, and the desire to experience life with heightened awareness. I am in awe of the virtuosity of our potter predecessors: the complexity of form, the color, the pattern, how THIN! In looking at the past I am inspired to study form by recreating proportion, concave and convex curves, and then to relate this form to the present.
