Monkeytown Pottery
Clay
I love to draw on pots. I throw pots on the wheel with emphasis on form and function and when these pots are leather hard, I mix up and apply, a variety of colored slips to the pots. Once I have done this, the pot becomes my canvas. I usually look at the pot and try to spot an image of something with my imagination, just like one can look at clouds and start imagining images. Once I spot something, whether it’s a turtle, a tree or a bird, or anything else I can imagine, then the picture usually fills itself in, and in a sense I just draw what I see. My pieces tell a story and have some recurring characters like owls and tortoises, they portray in essence, moments in time.
I have been a potter for 30 years now, beginning my journey at James Madison University with my first ceramics class when I was 21. I was lucky to Apprentice with Hawksbill Pottery, during and after College. I moved to Loudoun county in 2001 and officially opened Monkeytown Pottery in 2005, where I make pots and teach others how to do so.
All my pots are food safe and functional, I fire an oxidation to cone 7.