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Well I pretty much been around crafts, fine crafts and artistic people pretty much my
whole life. My mother was a crafts person. She was a wood carver. My interest kinda started
when I would go around to a lot of the craft shows with her. And I was the little kid trying
to stay out of every bodies way. But I got the chance to play with some clay on the potters
wheel. I got to talk to the people, wood carvers and the crafts people. Who were really great
folks. Her parents were crafts people. And I think for me it started early on before
I realized that I had a appreciation for art.
I had one art course in High School. After I graduated from High School I told my parents
I wanted to go to college to study art. Amazingly enough they let me do that.
I started out in fine art, then transitioned over to commercial art. I finished up with
my graphic design work. Within that I had training in photography , illustration, drafting,
just all kinds of things including silk screening. I got to try my hand at a lot of different
things. As a result of that I sometimes feel like I have a need to try all of these things.
(Laugh)
I started pottery about twelve years ago. With pottery, I love the things that the glazes
do on there own. I enjoy working with the clay and material, things like that. I think
it was because it was so different from the stuff I had done before, that I enjoy it.
It is definitely different then what I did nine to five every day. I was working on a
computer with computer graphics and that kinda stuff. With the pottery , wheel throwing takes
quite a bit of time in the seat. It's easy to get frustrated . So with the classes that
I teach, I like to show that you can be creative with clay just even in your kitchen, just
using ordinary tools. So I try to encourage people to be aware of what's around them and
look at it a little bit deeper. And to just look at different patterns.
With Pottery there is a process that I particularly like and that is the raku process. With that,
what you do is you have a kiln that is removable piece. So you fire the piece up to temperature.
Then you pull the kiln off while it is glowing red hot. You get to pick it up with the tongues.
There is fire and smoke involved. Then you put it in a trash can and it makes these beautiful
flashings of cooper and golds and reds. And it's random, and you never know what your
going to get. It's the materials, and minerals and chemicals, and the heat with the clay.
And it all works together to create it's own piece.
I am a firm believer that if you do what you love some body else is going to love it too.