I have been working with clay for the past 12 years. Originally I thought I would like to learn the wheel, fascinated by watching the process, but I quickly became bored with it...I mean, it just goes around and around and around. I later learned that it was an artistic process that didn't appeal because it produced a finished product too quickly. I needed to feel the process in steps. The energy in the work was what I truly enjoyed. Hence, I became a hand builder. I could stop at any time to tweak the work, take a little clay off, add a little clay there. The wheel was an industrial invention designed to make the process more efficient. Wheel thrown pottery is certainly beautiful, but the hand building process takes me in so many more creative directions. Besides, you can make so much more - rolling out slabs to make trays or boxes, coiling a bowl or vase, or pinching (my fav)... a most relaxing process.
I've tried to make just about anything hand building will allow..which is a lot. The list includes, magnets, pendants, spoons...and of course, bowls, boxes and trays. I identify myself as a sculptor, so making little bowls that have an image sculpted on the inside, or sitting on top, are common themes in all of my work. Sitting down with a lump of clay brings about so many creative possibilities before the finished product is unveiled.
I'm influenced by Native American and Celtic themes and symbolism which comes to me in the dream time. Sounds a little unsettling, I know, but I cannot explain the process in any concrete form. Tapping into the collective unconscious is like that.
Adding mixed media to the finished ceramic piece, such as metal, found objects or beads, is part of the challenge in many of my art pieces. When a fellow ceramist found an old metal handle, I incorporated it into the design of a large vase on which I had sculpted industrial symbols of nuts and bolts. Inspiration is found in the oddest of places.
I especially enjoy sculpting dragons. They are an ancient mythical symbol and I consider it an honor to be able to represent their strength and undulating presence in my artwork.