In This Site
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With a degree
in Business Administration (Art/Graphic Design
minor) from Old Dominion University, I started my
career as a computer professional. In the spring
of 1997, I decided to go back to college to
diversify my art training from painting to studio
production pottery. At the Visual Arts Center in
Portsmouth, VA, my focus was on high fired
porcelain clay.
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A few years
after successfully completing the exciting
curriculum, I traded my managerial job in the
corporate world for a custom built riverfront
studio. (I have an amazing family that helps me
with my
"little projects")
(a rare snow in
Virginia Beach)
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Using porcelain, to create a
sense of fun in functional forms, my whimsical
sea life Artware brings smiles. (Opening the
kiln to a dozen laughing fish brightens my
day...but here I digress.) I use porcelain, a
very refined clay, because it is soft and
smooth.
Beginning with sketchbook designs, I develop
ideas that evolve before the clay is brought
to the wedging table. A wedging table is a
slab of plaster used to "knead" the clay to
make it ready to throw, similar to kneading
bread. I throw using a kick wheel shaping many
of the same forms, each becoming unique.
I use a kickwheel, manually powered by my
legs, because I like the quiet, control and it
eliminates the need for electricity.
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Designs may
be lightly sketched on the clay and carved with
pointy metal tools. Shells
and found objects are often used for impressions.
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All of my lead-free glazes
are mixed from scratch. Various chemicals:
silica, feldspar, limestone and a colorant
such as iron oxide are combined with water to
create the glaze that will produce the muted
colors and glassy surfaces.
The pieces are slowly
reduction fired in a gas kiln to 2400F.
Reduction means taking the oxygen out of the
firing chamber so that the metal oxides react
in to create different effects than electric
kiln firing.
Two days later
the kiln is ready to unload.
They are dishwasher safe and
very indestructible unless they are dropped.
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The kiln |
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Reduction
flames from the chimney |
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Nearing 2200
degrees...getting pretty warm in there |
While seeking recognition is
not my primary goal,
my artistic works have been acknowledged:
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Fall 2008 Honorable
mention for
Oriental
Coil vase Chesapeake Bay Art
Association |
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Featured in "Thumbs Up!"
article in Virginia Beach Beacon newspaper (click
here
to view article) |
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Spring 2008 - Several
pieces on display at the Contemporary Art
Center, Virginia Beach |
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2008 Art*o*mat - Low
cost multiples of art that are sold in
refurbished and converted cigarette machines
located in museums & art institutions
(ongoing) |
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Award
of Merit - Stockley Gardens Fall Arts
Festival - pottery |
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Featured working artist at Annmarie Garden
Artsfest,
Solomons Island, MD |
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As a visiting artist -
Promotional porcelain pottery artwork - Blue
Skies Gallery - Ceramic Designers
Association
“All Fired Up” show |
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Pottery
making tips published in Clay Times
magazine |
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Best in
Show and First Place Award winner
for over 25 pieces of painted artwork from
the
Virginia Ceramists in Richmond, VA |
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Portrait painting published in Porcelain
Artist magazine |
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First
Place in local art show for leaded stained
glass window |
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Former
editor/designer of quarterly Bereavement
newsletter for Edmarc Hospice for Children. |
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I am active with the
Ceramic Designers
Association,
frequently participate in several east coast
juried art shows and I am an owner of
Blue Skies
Gallery, located in Hampton, Virginia.
Turning
opaque, malleable and silky smooth porcelain clay
into a translucent, impenetrable functional form
is consuming.
Knowing that the bowl I create today
could outlast me
is truly a humbling concept.
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What's New
in 2008!!!
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Look for a "little" of my pottery in
www.Artomat.org
"The original art vending machine project"
New Locations:
Minneapolis,
MN CHAMBERS,
The Luxury Art Hotel of Minneapolis
Louisville, KY
The Kentucky Center
Boone, NC
Gamekeeper Restaurant
Detroit, MI Gallagher
Orlando, FL
Sam Flax
Austin, TX
Mercury Design Studio
Oceanside, CA
Clients & Profits
Doylestown, PA
Bucks County Library
Upper Arlington, OH
Ursus Gallery
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