Ceramics
As an artist, I am riddled with discovery, pulled forward by an intuitive curiosity that has guided me through drawing, painting, and printmaking. Years ago, I experimented with ceramics in high school and college, but eventually set the clay aside for other pursuits. After nearly a decade away from clay, I have found myself falling back in love with the material—its patience, its unpredictability, its quiet insistence on presence.
While teaching Art Appreciation, I assign my students a hand-built ceramic project with a functional purpose. Each semester I invite our ceramics instructor, Brian McCallum, whose expertise, generosity, and steadfast commitment to the craft continually inspire both my students and me. His guidance always opens a door, and I inevitably step through it—unable to sit on the sidelines while the clay is alive in the room.
That is where this series of Pot-Head Planter People began.
Each piece takes about ninety minutes to build. I lean into the rough textures and the primitive, exaggerated features, shaping wide, whimsical heads whose potted plants erupt like wild hair—alive, expressive, a little feral. It’s a side practice, a playful detour from my main body of work, and it is wonderfully freeing. The process asks nothing of me but presence and joy.
I’ve never sold a single one. Every piece has been given to a dear friend.
If you have one, consider yourself lucky
