flashforward...

i got together with the love of my life in the summer of 99. that same summer i did my first real work in clay. belle & sebastian played a lot in the ceramics studio at camp. so did ben harper.

i was just learning how to work with clay, but i was definitely into it. the staff at camp, mainly nicole and tracy, and kevin, taught me and collaborated with me a lot. it was an incredible learning experience.

when carrie and i got to san diego, i started making these slump forms that i painted with acrylics. carrie kept saying, "why don't you just glaze them?"

it wasn't until i got the job at the elementary school that i actually heeded her very wise advise. then i got rolling with wheel thrown and slab built pieces.

it was at this point that the pattern impulse in me came back loud and strong. the strongest it has been since those pieces in the mid 90s. i loved so many of the pieces that i made in the few years i invested in clay. so little of them sold, though, and i became disenchanted in the medium. that said, this coincided with me going back to school to get my teaching credential.

all in all, though, these functional pattern pieces i made in clay are some of the most beautiful works i have ever made.