Profile

Artist Statement:

I am drawn to things that are exotic, rich in quality, and have complexity of design. I have always been interested in the arts of eastern and middle eastern countries; ethnic clothing, costumes, and ecclesiastical garments.

In my drawings, my aim is to come up with complex imagery of a ceremonial robe of unidentifiable origin. I want the viewer to find something of interest in every part, and to come back time and again to find something new. The drawing is the most important part of my work. When finished I put it on the wall for a month or two giving me time to refine it, and to think about color combinations. This time is needed as changes cannot be made once I have committed the design to clay.

The process of going from a drawing to a finished ceramic robe is long and laborious. To achieve the results I want, there are many tedious steps which are very time consuming, and which have to be highly controlled. Many things can go wrong, as there are always uncontrollable, and unknown issues which come with working in clay. You are then faced with the risk involved in giving over your work to the heat of the kiln. This is especially so in the brutal Raku process, which requires pulling pieces out of a red hot kiln and plunging them into a container with combustible materials.  The results can take your breath away, or break your heart. However, in the end, the two or three month journey from a bag of clay to a finished robe is worth all of the effort.

Resume:

Education

B.S. Fine Arts,  University of Maryland,  1973

Exhibiting

2000   Smithsonian Institution, WDC
2000   Glenview Mansion Art Gallery, Rockville, MD
2000   Ellipse Center, Arlington, VA
2002   American Craft Council Enterprises, Baltimore, MD
2002   Eleven Eleven Sculpture Space, WDC
2003-06   U.S. Embassy, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
2004,08,09   Sogetsu Ikebana, Virginia Art League, Alexandria, VA
2005-08   U.S. Embassy, Banjul, Gambia
2005   Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD
2007   Virginia Art League, Alexandria,VA
2010   Dennis & Phillip Ratner Museum, Bethesda, MD
2010   Brookside Gardens, Kensington, MD
2010-13   U.S. Consulate, Hamilton, Bermuda
2010-13   U.S. Embassy, Port of Spain, Trinidad
2010   NOVA, Alexandria, VA
2012   Virginia Art League, Alexandria, VA
2013   Mitchell Gallery, St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD
2013   Hill Galleries, WDC
2014   Cabarrus Arts Council, Concord, NC
2016   Shanghai International Ceramics Expo 2016

Collections   

The George Walker Vincent Smith Art Museum, Springfield, MA
University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Oliver Carr Co., WDC
Bariatric Partners, Inc., Charlotte, NC
Southern Railway Building, WDC
Aerospace Services International, Inc., Herndon, VA
Sunrise Farms, Medford, OR
Dr. Arthur L. Buikema, Jr., Blacksburg, VA
John Hamblin, Oxted Surrey, England
Susan Megson Gallery, England
Fernando Caso, San Juan, Puerto Rico and NYC
R & B Properties, Morrison Clark Inn, WDC
Suixuan Art Center, Shanghai, China

Awards

Prince George’s Arts Council, 1990, 1996
Maryland State Arts Council, 1991, 2001, 2012
Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center,1998

Publications  

Ceramics  Monthly, March, 1997
Handbuilt Ceramics, Lark Books, 1997
Surface Decoration, Lark Books, 1999
The Artful Home, Guild Sourcebook, 2003, 2004
Advanced Raku Techniques, American Ceramic Society, 2005
Ceramics Today, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2010
Mind Magazine, Chengdu, China, 2014
China Art Ceramics, Shanghai, China, 2014