Biography / Statement
I am a retired architect and have been studying ceramics and pottery since 1968. I was educated first as an engineer at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, then as an architect at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In between, while in the U.S. Army, I was introduced to ceramics and pottery at the Virginia Museum in Richmond, Virginia, where I learned to create simple bowls, plates and jars with Tom Kerrigan. Later I studied ceramics at the Evanston Art Center where I continue my studies. The work of the late Toshiko Takaezu, Warren McKenzie, Steve Mickey, Patty Kochaver and others have inspired me for their simple elegantly shaped vessels and masterful use of slips and glazes.
I have an abiding interest and delight in the visual, whether it is wooden corn cribs, ceramic bowls, water towers atop buildings in Chicago, concrete silos, or silos. What I find interesting is the contrast between these simple shapes and forms to the prairie and agricultural landscape, and the urban environment. Many of these images have a special poignancy as well, because continued urbanization and outward suburban development is fast destroying these buildings as they are torn down to make way for strip malls and sub-divisions. The same holds true for Chicago water towers, which are also fast disappearing. I continue to learn and explore the ceramic medium and wait in excited expectation to see what the kiln goddess will produce after each firing.
$350
