My Pottery Journey
My journey with pottery began more than 30 years ago, when I first explored clay through pottery workshops at community art centers and with well-known potters. For the last two decades, I have found my zen working at my pottery wheel or working with a solid lump of clay and hollowing out a Kurinuki form. Creative making provides mental and spiritual space to fully immerse myself in the clay and its movement. My most rewarding work comes when I fully surrender to the making process, aligning my inner search with my outer practice.
Much of my work combines clay with discarded tree branches that I discover during my solo walks in the woods as well as from friends who find interesting pieces and share them with me. The clay in my pottery is newly formed, but the branches, with their unique shapes and textures, echo their once vibrant life. I find the creative process of joining these two natural elements to be deeply fulfilling and spiritual. I discover new aspects of myself as I work … what I value, what inspires me, what I wish to add to the world. As I give new use to the discarded limbs, I honor the service the trees so generously gave our planet. I combine the wood and clay to invite us into closer connection with nature and with each other.
My art is guided by the ancient aesthetic philosophy of wabi-sabi, which honors simplicity and imperfection — even the cracks and crevices that form from age and decay. They are mindful reminders that true beauty is not dependent on a societal standard of improvement or ornamentation. Wabi-sabi is a way of living that focuses on the beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.