 A good friend introduced me to clay. I loved the feeling of the clay
in my hands and the seeming magic of the firing process. I studied with
Frances Trapp at the Boston Museum School for several years, learning the
basics of throwing on the potter’s wheel. In 1968 I moved to Carmel,
California and joined Peninsula Potters Cooperative where I learned how
to fire high-temperature gas kilns and did extensive glaze testing. Big
Creek Pottery was just up the highway in Santa Cruz, and I was able to
take many workshops there with Daniel Rhodes and other well-known
potters.
I returned to the East Coast in 1972 and opened a retail crafts
gallery and teaching studio, The Works, located in Manchester by the Sea,
MA. In 1979 I moved to my present home in Gloucester, MA and turned the
garage into my studio and showroom. John Baymore designed my 65 cubic
foot cross-draft propane-fired car kiln. The car is loaded with pots
inside my studio and then rolled outside into the body of the kiln for
the firing. It is the best kiln (and easiest to load) I have ever used.
Working at my wheel or glazing table I can look out at the Mill River,
which is always changing with the tides.
After 30 years of making primarily functional pieces, my latest work
features “quarry vessels” and wall tiles made from highly textured slabs
of porcelain. One of the great pleasures of working with clay is that
there is always something new to try. Shino-glazed porcelain is also new
for me and I love the mystery of what happens with that glaze, a range
from pale apricot to smoky grey. |
