RECENT EXHIBITION EXPERIENCE 2008, March, Winter Park Sidewalk Arts Festival, Winter Park, FL. 2008, March, Catawba Valley Pottery Festival, Hickory, NC. 2007, Oct., Xiem Gallery, Pasadena, CA. "Clay: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth", juried exhibition. 2007, Oct., MudFire Gallery, Atlanta, GA, "Asheville In Atlanta" Invited participant. 2007, Oct., Spruce Pine, NC. "2nd Annual Spruce Pine Potters Market Invitational". 2007, June-July, Hand In Hand Gallery, Flat Rock, NC. "Invitational Anniversary Exhibition". 2007, June-Sept., Folk Art Ctr, Asheville, NC. "New Members Exhibit, Southern Highlands Craft Guild". 2007, May, Market House Craft Ctr., Lancaster, PA. "Strictly Functional Pottery National", juried exhibit. 2007, May, MudFire Gallery, Atlanta, GA. "Put A Lid On It" juried exhibition. 2006, October, Old English Inn Clay Invitational, Spruce Pine, NC 2006, October, Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, Asheville, NC 2006, Sept, Honorable Mention "Fall Celebration of Arts", Toe River Arts Council, Spruce Pine, NC 2006, September, "Blue Ridge Fine Craft Exhibition", Transylvania Arts Council, Brevard, NC. 2006, May, "Odyssey Goes West" The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT. 2005, March, "Salt, Soda, and Slip", Invitational exhibition hosted by the Potters' Guild of Baltimore and Baltimore Clayworks, in conjunction with the annual conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). 2006, November, Regional Artist Project Grant Recipient, awarded by the Asheville Area Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council.

As a ceramic artist I explore the potter's wheel and the use of atmospheric firing methods as my primary tools. The dynamic interaction between the malleable, versatile clay and the steady motion of the wheel first enthralled me, and continues to challenge and humble me everyday. It is this interaction that inspires the forms I create, and which influences the movements of my hands as they meet the clay. Each piece is a record of the union of these forces.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My current work reflects my continuing attempt to find a balance between the requirements of function, and the subtle details which give a form the strength to stand alone and still remain receptive to the marks of the fire. I choose to create mostly functional work because I enjoy the intimacy with which these pieces can be experienced. For me, knowing that a piece of my pottery will be filled with nourishment and held closely on a daily basis only adds to the beauty of that piece and to the attention to detail it deserves.

As each piece takes form between my hands one thousand thoughts fill my head; of strong form, proper function, and firing surface. I am creating not just a bowl or cup or jar, but a pot with all the possible expressions of the human personality. I form the structure, the bones, of the pot thinking ahead towards the firing chamber. Building on this structure I refine the surface until the taut skin reveals the intentional elements of the seemingly simple form. And then I send the pot into the fire, standing naked and unadorned, with only its strength to protect it and its softness to accept the flames which wrap around it.