Artist's Statement:
After I received my BFA in Ceramics and was working in stoneware
clay for ten years, I took a course in porcelain pottery at the
University of New Mexico. I had been hearing about this class
where students could study a traditional method of porcelain
that came from Arita, Japan. It used 'tools', there were 'steps',
and the potters wheel spun 'clockwise' - it was unlike anything
I had ever done before...
Since 1988, I have been studying this way of creating porcelain
pottery that is used in Arita. I enjoy the challenges of working
with this glass-like clay and the 'Arita Method'.
How porcelain changes in the glaze firing, from the way
it moves to its translucence, is like magic; and whenever I
open the kiln and there is a piece as I had imagined, I am
still in amazement.
I received my MA in 1996, and
have been teaching the Arita Method at UNM since 2001 with the
support of Manji Inoue of Arita ~ National Living Treasure of
Japan.