I began sculpting as a teenager in the early 60’s. Little did I know the first figure I created would lead to a lifetime connection with the clay.

Living in Montana made it possible for me to study at the phenomenal Archie Bray Foundation. It was there that I learned to incorporate sculpture and functional pottery. Teapots lent their full-bodied shapes to sculptured figures and large oriental vases became oriental faces.

I attended workshops at the University of Montana. In awe I watched the masters, Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos, the heart and soul of ceramics, give inspiration as they created massive vessels..

Ultimately, carving and sculpture were more important to me than mastering the wheel. With ease, my hands turned to hand building and the human figure. Models in character dress became a challenge to capture a story told by a small clay portrait. That story would become the object of my work. The portrait of family provoke a feeling of the strength of a mountain, a Mount Hood porcelain sculpture. The embraced couple tells of a love steadfast and solid also formed out of Mount Hood porcelain.