Artist's Statement
I have enjoyed working with geometric patterns since childhood. The dazzle of hard-edged designs against the soft curves of the pot both inspires and satisfies me.

I have studied pottery in museum, university, and art schools. As a child, I went with my grandmother to an exhibition of Op-Art that blasted me with variations of black and white hard-edged moving pattterns. I think my strongest influence has been the native arts classes I took in Idyllwild with various Native American craftspeople in weaving, silversmithing, and pottery design. These classes confirmed my interest in surface decoration, and it was from them that I learned that making art is a continuing process, rather than a product-making activity. I spend many hours a week scribing and carving patterns into the surfaces of pots.

As I continue to study pattern styles from all over the world, I gravitate toward female crafts such as batik, quilting, weaving, basket making, and Pueblo pottery design. These process-oriented crafts have in common a continuous and extensive investment of time, as well as the need for careful hand skills. As I stretch designs inspired by various crafts over the curved surface of the pots, the patterns are enhanced by a new element -- that of distortion.

Like many potters, I am aware that, for better or worse, the pots I make may last for hundreds of years, becoming part of the record of our culture, as well as my personal expression. It makes me feel a real responsibility to do my best work -- to please myself and any who choose to include my pots in their homes.

Oak View, CA

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