I make pots on the wheel but I prefer hand building with slabs. I became a hand builder because I got tired of "round" and enjoy the geometric exercise of designing pots in pieces. I envision what I want to make, and then work out the proportions and design by sketching and building the piece using trial and error. Once I am happy with the pot, I make a pattern using oak tag so I can make the pot as many times as I want (which may not be too often because I get bored with lots of repetition.) While the pot is in pieces and not yet leather hard, I apply surface decoration using a variety of methods. Sometimes I press homemade stamps, natural materials, or commercial texture mats into the clay. Other times I use tyvek stencils that I have cut and paint slips on the clay. I also carve and attach sprigs to the surface. Fond of all art Asian, my hope is to channel the Asian aesthetic using clean, clear forms and elegant shapes. Then to enliven those forms with texture.