.....I found my direction when the opportunity came to train with Ray Finch and his small team at the Winchcombe Pottery in Gloucestershire, England. A pottery has been on this site for 200 years, and Ray has led it making 'domestic ware' (pots for the table, pots for cooking and serving, and pots for the garden) for more than 50 years. Ray and his mentor, Michael Cardew, drew inspiration from rich 17th century slipware forms and the sturdy pots of medieval Europe. Not only do I admire the basic ideas of form that those old pots possess, but I've also grown to appreciate the important connection between food and pots that inspired their work.

.....I arrived in Fredericksburg in September of 1980, to become the manager of the Fredericksburg Pottery, located at the corner of Hanover and Sophia Street. I set out to make useful pots that honored the tradition of Winchcombe without being mere imitations. Using multiple layers of traditional materials and techniques, I try to make pots that fit in with today's world.

.....I bought the pottery at the end of 1983 and moved my workshop to nearby Dogue, Virginia before resettling downtown at 106 Hanover St. in 1991. This new shop was right across the street from the original pottery. During that time I began teaching...mostly workshops and for a few years I taught a regular course at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. I also began hiring assistants to help me with the shop and learn to make a line of pots that I designed. For some reason that led to the start of a small school for pottery which led to the founding of the LibertyTown Arts Workshop which is another story for another time.

.....I closed the Hanover Street studio this spring (2005), dividing my time between LibertyTown and my workshop in the country. I completed construction of a two-chambered, wood-fired kiln there last fall and intend for it to be my primary means of firing in the future.