My fascination with sculpture began at a very young age, even though I was not really aware it was happening at the time.  I grew up on my great-grandfather’s homestead farm located on the clay-rich soil of Northern California’s delta.  Every irrigation would leave deposits of clay that were irresistible to a young boy.  Years later, as a university student trying to choose a class that would fulfill a general education requirement, I randomly selected a ceramics class.  In the first day of that class I was back home playing in those irrigation ditches full of clay…and I have never left since.

 

The professor of that first class once told me “A pot without a soul is just clay around a hole”.  As a beginner just wrestling with technique, I wasn’t really quite sure what he meant.  Over the years the meaning has become very clear.  Every piece of work that can hope to be called “art” has something inside, a spirit, a life or an energy that transcends the structure or the subject.  This life comes partially from the maker but he or she cannot take all the credit. The spirit also comes from the material, the tools used, and the processes employed.  

 

In every piece in this portfolio I have labored to find this inner life.  I have tried to make each work reflect a dialog with my old friend clay, and my new friend bronze.  This is what I endeavor to do in all my work.  And when it does happen, even to some small degree, it is magical.