A tornado recently went through my yard and caused a lot of damage: destroying eight trees. This cup was my response and way of mourning the loss. Change, when forced on us can be terrible, but it is also how nature works, and an opportunity for new things to grow.
When I started to work in porcelain, I put a lot of energy in keeping that white surface pristine and clean. I think I’m over it and now I want to dirty these pots up and use colored glaze and stains to add some variety and chaos to those porcelain surfaces. Here are some experiments.
In June 2026, took a workshop with Lisa Orr at the Arrowmont school of arts and crafts. One of the many things I learned was how to make sprigs. It’s a decoration that I can sculpt, make a mold of, and then add copies to my pottery.
I love pottery with a lot of surface design, but the economics don’t make sense to spend half a day decorating a cup that I will sell for much less than a full days wages. these sprigs have some potential for quickly adding more interest to my pots.
When I’m not sure how to glaze something they can sit on my shelf for a while. This one took almost a year before being completed.
if the design for this pot looks familiar to you, I made this while visiting Canada and was also learning about historic Korean ceramics at the same time. This decoration is my response to a very famous ancient Korean pot using the Canada goose as a substitute for the crane.
Another piece from that same trip to Canada:
This cup was a little bit of a joke while giving a workshop. I wanted to have an iconic Canadian graphic image to demonstrate an image transfer technique.
You all will be happy to know that the cup is going to be in the collection of a real life Canadian, who lives in Kentucky and will appreciate.
I also fired this little itty bitty teapot-it was a study of a Fong Choo teapot that I made from Arrowmont’s boneyard during the 2024 spring Pentaculum. It’s a study and not representative of my work, so i wasn’t sure how to glaze it. I ended up testing a blue and brown glaze, and I like the way it turned out!!
I learned a lot and have some fun new pots! I can’t wait to take what I’ve learned and do more experiments!
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