About the Studio

I first threw on the wheel in the late 1980's at my friend Claudia Cartee's pottery studio, which had an electric wheel. As I remember it, Claudia had to help me center anything I attempted to throw. While I enjoyed the end result of my first efforts at throwing pottery -- the final product generally being a smallish cereal bowl -- I look back now and realize that those casual sessions at Claudia's studio were the beginning of discovering my love for the sensation of clay and slip on my fingers and the quiet concentration required while throwing on a wheel. As the years went by, I learned to "feel one with the clay" and I have learned to enjoy communal throwing sessions as well as solitary time at the wheel.

I throw on a handmade kick-wheel, which I first learned at Scottie Allen's studio in Maryland. I began throwing at Scottie's in the fall of 1995. Now I use the kick-wheel at her studio as well as at my home studio in Washington, DC. 

At Scottie's we glaze for Cone 10 reduction firings but here at Bright Leaf Pottery I glaze Cone 6, or 7, oxidation firings in my electric kiln.

All of my functional stoneware is lead-free, food-safe, microwave, oven, and dishwasher safe.

I have found that I prefer a certain unevenness in my work, a little wabi sabi, a wrinkle here or there. I am not looking for the perfect, symmetrical bowl; I want to make a bowl that feels comfortable in my hands. I want my pots to have a feeling of timelessness, earthiness, and practicality. Look at the pots in the Gallery and you will see what I mean!