Toki no wa loosley translated to mean "pottery of harmony".

I have attained a personal level of harmony in my studio. In the late 1970’s Shoji Hamada became my mentor through readings of his “truth to materials” approach to Japanese artistic design and craftsmanship. This show honors Shoji Hamada and the influence he and his culture have had on my art and my life.

Ukeyo-e, Japanese wood block prints, have set me on a path in which I incorporate the cultural and artistic strengths of artists such as Utamaro, Hiroshige and Hokusai of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Japan. Their detailed work and depiction of common everyday life, the floating world, is successfully transferable to the ceramic surface. Porcelain clay is used to create vessels that offer a surface lending itself to this style of decoration; refined yet simple.

New clay has recently found its way into my studio. River Dog, formulated by a local ceramic artist, George Wright, possesses a composition which is varied and diverse, allowing exploration in clay with new-found freedom. Holding this clay in my hands, I feel somewhat child-like, ready to explore, its textured, complex surface, the antithesis of the delicate porcelain surface.

The works which have grown from these two varied materials exist in contrast and in harmony.