Playing with mud and fire are activities that I've enjoyed since I was a child. As an adult, making pottery satisfies both of those needs for me. That one then generates useful objects for eating, drinking and ritual makes the activity all the more compelling. I feel connected to an ancient craft that is about sustenance of physical and spiritual life. I make high-fire stoneware. Focusing on form, having trained as a sculptor, I start most things on the potters’ wheel. The pots are trimmed and handles applied. Bone dry pots are biscuit fired. I apply glaze by dipping and pouring. The reduction of oxygen during glaze firing results in a toasty brown clay and deep, rich colors. I work with 15 to 20 glazes to achieve a broad variety of surfaces and colors, simply by layering. Though some of the colors can be quite vibrant, I love that they retain an earthy quality, which I attribute to the interaction between the clay and glaze that occurs during the high-fire process.