Family meals are my most cherished memories. When I sit at the potter’s wheel I think about those family celebrations. I remember my mother’s pride in setting the birthday cake she created in the middle of the table. I remember the bucket brigade of heaving platters being passed from one cousin to the next down the infinitely long holiday table at my grandmother’s house. Every time I make a bowl or platter or cake stand or wine cup I picture it becoming part of someone’s lifetime of communing with family and friends. Sure, a pot has to look good. But it is even more important that it functions well, feels good when passed, and enhances the food that it carries.
Pennsylvania has a strong tradition of functional, hardworking pottery. I try to create modern pots that spring from those traditional, functional values while embracing today’s casual, streamlined aesthetic.