My interest in handmade pottery began Christmas of 1974 when my parents gave me a stoneware teapot by potter Frank McNutt. Sitting around with friends in front of the fireplace, savoring tea steeped and served in that teapot, lit a creative spark for me.

Two years later I began clay classes at the Virginia Beach Arts Center and Sandpiper Pottery. What I do today is an amalgamation of all the advice I have received from potters far and wide, input from all the people who have purchased my work, and viewing, holding, and using objects that have visual, functional, and tactile appeal to me.

A retail storefront where the majority of my pots are sold. Interacting with my clientele, face-to-face, has been a very important part of my process as well. I keep in touch with my customers via e-mail newsletters, handmadeinseagrove.com, instagram and other virtual means. That overused cliche about a pots user completing the cycle has become a cliche simply because there is something to it. I would not have been able to do this for such a long run if people had not appreciated and used my work within the context of their daily lives.

“Imagine it – do the work – share and enjoy the fruits.”