Adversity sometimes leads us in unexpected directions. After 20 years of painting on clay, my back began telling me that I needed to change the way I worked. I began exploring an area of forming clay that I had overlooked, handbuilding, having been seduced early on by the potter's wheel. Working with clay using only minimal tools and exploring clay's inherent qualities, I became fascinated with it's ability to record impressions and what happens to those patterns after manipulation. I began to see everything in terms of texture and pattern, the marvelous stretching of tree bark over time, or the swirling sandstone strata in the hills around where I live. The world is full of texture and pattern, so finding inspiration is everywhere.

My work has become a self guiding process. Although I may have an initial goal or have an idea to explore a specific texture or shape, I often am lead to something new by what the clay suggests to me along the way. Because my methods can be precise or not, the outcomes can be delightfully surprising. The continual aesthetic judgements and decisions made in the process of forming each piece provide richness and daily personal growth as an artist.

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