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I discovered clay as a Midwest undergraduate Art student in 1970 and now look back on more than 50 years as a full-time professional potter. My first authentic studio was Santa Fe Pottery on Guadalupe Street in the mid 70’s. My wife, Beth and I moved to Seattle in the early 80’s, where I established a series of shared studio/gallery spaces before acquiring a commercial building in 1996 that became Brace Point Pottery in beautiful downtown Arbor Heights within sight of Puget Sound. In March of 2022, we sold our home/studio/gallery to a young potter, Deb Schwartzkopf who is expanding the legacy with her pottery school, Rain City Clay. Beth retired from her position as Chorus Master at Seattle Opera and we moved to Merced to live near our geologist daughter, a professor at UC Merced, where I hope to teach a section in one of her classes called “Rock to Rock” a potters view of geological and thermodynamic process. I am establishing a new home studio in Merced and changing everything up… new clays, glazes, firing temperatures, making procedures…and new selling opportunities.
My earliest exposure to a national market began in California where I first participated in the American Craft Council show in San Francisco in 1982. ACC shows in Baltimore and Springfield MA got me rolling and I eventually sold my work in dozens of galleries in twenty states, including Appalachian Spring in DC, Cedar Creek in North Carolina and American Craft in Cleveland. Over the years, I have been fortunate to be featured in Ceramics Monthly, Studio Pottery Magazine and Clay Times. I am a founding member and past president of the Washington Potters Association and a Lifetime Member of the Northwest Designer Craftsman Association, serving as treasurer for many years.
Many California clay artists are long time friends, but I look forward to meeting more of you in the future through ACGA events and exhibitions.
The beginnings of humankind go hand in hand with the beginnings of pottery. Of contemporary craft media, only basket making is as fundamental. The shapes of pottery are the shapes of the human body, and are named such: lip, foot, shoulder. They are shapes we know very well on a level beneath our consciousness. My intent is to apply contemporary interpretation to traditional form and purpose by creating objects for people to use and enjoy.
As an art student, Form and Function drew me to pottery, but painting has been an increasingly important aspect to my work. My best pots resolve the difficulty of painting in three dimensions, while maintaining the integrity of the form.
My glazing technique is squirt bottle “Art Marks” under a casually sprayed landscape of glazes. Mid temperature down firing allows a saturation of color and glaze/clay interaction especially with iron and titanium bearing glazes and the possibility of unpredictable aventurine crystal formation. Zirconium encapsulation technology allows for expanded color possibilities. Porcelain clay provides a bright, white backdrop to enhance color response and increase durability.