This user has not added any information to their profile yet.
I believe that moving to the Mojave Desert with my family when I was three years old shaped my artwork and my future. Although there are some beautiful places in the desert, I was not inspired by the low desert. But the desert influenced my need to be among the trees in a forest. The desert offered only low bushes, cactus, and wispy mesquite trees and I found I was fascinated by trees and forests. In looking back at my earliest art work I have discovered that trees were often the subjects of my drawings and paintings.
I began to seriously pursue my ceramic career after moving from the desert to Northern California in 1992 and found my inspiration in the coastal redwood forests.
I began to interpret Nature in clay sculptures beginning with the cypress trees from the ocean cliffs. I am also inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century which had the ideals of creating harmony with Nature and creating a sense of peace away from jobs and factories, which I think is even more relevant today due to our immersion in technology. I also incorporate the curvilinear shapes and romanticism of the Art Nouveau movement and see this influence in my bird and tree sculptures, along with my carved "wave" pieces influenced by the Japanese woodcuts of Hokusai.