It is said that the photographer, Edward Weston, was fascinated by the possibilities in the abstract. His photographs are great illustrations of the underlying abstract milieu of our "real" world. Like Weston, I am also fascinated by the abstract, but I also have a great respect for change and the processes of change. One of these processes, fire, is a great transformer, taking what it is given and creating something new and different. The resulting abstract form gives witness to the process and speaks of deeper things.

Personally speaking: I spent a long time trying to figure out "what I wanted to be when I grow up". Oddly enough, when I found out, it appears that what I wanted to be as a grown up is something very much like what I wanted to do when I was young. I wanted to grow in skill and confidence and be able to express myself in a confusing, but magical, world. When I grew up, "doing" and the "being" seemed to be closely related. After retiring from a career in education, I had the good fortune to be exposed to clay. I wasn't naive. I had read M.C. Richards', Centering, and Paulus Berenson's, Finding One's Way with Clay, 25 years before, and had dabbled in welding metal sculpture after seeing David Smith's work at the Hirschorn. I didn't warm up to clay all of a sudden either. Throwing is a skill that requires a good deal of practice, and I was still engaged in my responsibilities as an educational consultant. I gradually came to see clay as a medium that held limitless possibilities for learning and doing. I threw my "ton of clay", which Jerry Horning said on his video that you had to do before feeling comfortable with the process. I learned to make cone 6 glazes and fire with some consistency at my local art league.

Then, I discovered raku. The underlying firing procedures, aesthetics, and trial and error (and trial and error!) connected to part of my genetic make-up. While I'm not willing to give up on other media as possibilities for use, I find myself returning again and again to raku.

No limits, no boundaries. Let's say we can begin again, and again...

Welcome to the website. Please use the navigation bars to the left to learn about the processes I use in the various kinds of sculpture I do (see the Background links), or go to the Galleries of my work (Portfolio). The most recent work I've done can be viewed by clicking on the Recent Work link (of course!). This is the area that I'll be posting my newest sculpture and other work.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the work or would like to make an appointment to visit with me at the Second Chance Ranch Studio located near Lewes, DE.