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ABOUT ME
For the past 25 years, I have been fortunate to live and make pots in the forested hills of rural Douglas County, Oregon. I built my own propane-firing kiln here in the early 1980's. In the mid-90's, I built myself a raku kiln. About the same time, I was fortunate to be able to assist in the building of Hikarigama, Hiroshi Ogawa's wood-firing kiln. I dream of building a small, wood-fueled kiln of my own someday...
I love to 'play' in the flower garden. Pulling weeds is peaceful and meditative to me. I am trying on keep my garden smaller and more intense. But things keep getting away from me. The more I garden, the more I appreciate people who 'really' garden.
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I graduated from the University of California at Irvine, then discovered pottery afterward. My first clay class was at the Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene, Oregon. I returned to California, and kept taking pottery classes. Eventually an instructor got tired of my badgering him with questions, and encouraged my return to California State University at Long Beach to learn glaze chemistry and kiln firing.
In the ensuing years, I took many workshops from noted potters as Harry Davis, John Glick, Karen Karnes, Nils Lou, Tony Marsh, Robin Hopper and Robert Turner. Another early influence was Paul Soldner (while potting at Anderson Ranch, Snowmass, Colorado).
I learned to handbuild with clay after a severe shoulder injury prevented me from throwing on the potters wheel. In early 1990's I took classes at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nevada. It was there that I discovered wood-fired kilns, and rediscovered raku. More workshops, including: Paul Lewing, Warren MacKenzie, Stephen Hill, Catherine Hiersoux and Yoshiro Ikeda.
In the 1990's, I enrolled in classes at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon where I enrolled in Drawing, Design and Sculpture classes. As much as I wished I had taked these classes 30 years earlier, it is never too late. Invigorated with learning, I attended graduate courses at the University of Oregon. I was fortunate to take classes and seminars from George Kokis, before his retirement.
I keep taking workshops, including Jim Romberg, Leslie Lee, Dennis Meiners and Katy McFadden, as learning never ends. Most recently I learned how to paint and fire metallics & lusters on finished pots from Chris Kienle.
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I've taught clay classes to children and adults in parks and classrooms. It's amazing what one can learn from beginners, especially the children. They don't know the rules or boundaries of clay, and try whatever jumps in their mind. As I guide them to what I know clay can do, I make mental notes to experiment with variations of their attempts.
I have taught classes that ended with a raku-fire at my studio. These are always the most popular classes.
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1999 - Clayfest - Beyond Functional Work - Award
2000 - Finalist in North American Bonsai Pot Competition, sponsored by the National Bonsai Foundation and the Tagaki Museum of Tokyo, Japan, at the U.S. National Arboretum
2000 - Clayfest - Functional Pottery - Honorable Mention
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