some pictures first

so as not to scare you off with masses of writing - here's a picture (or two)

these are some of the very first things i made after stumbling into the wonderful world of ceramics (no sane person would ever CHOOSE this medium!)

i'm not going to let myself worry too much about what it says of my current practice that i'm showing you old pots first...

i like to think of this as a time of growth (with all of the associated growing pains!)
were i the sort of person who collected pithy sayings i'd have some useful epigram about struggle and growth - at the moment all that springs to mind is (probably misquoted) "that which does not kill us makes us strong."

ah but i promised pictures, not more writing

dragonfly vase
2000
handbuilt earthenware w/ cobalt underglaze decoration
40cm x 15cm diameter

This was quite literally the first thing i ever made in ceramics class - i'd been doing my Masters in Art Education at COFA for a torturous year (the only thing nearly as bad a being a teacher is studying with them!) and finally succumbed to the lure of the studios - i so desperately wanted to get my hands dirty!

The first semester of first year BFA we got to try out a bunch of different things and for some perverse reason it was clay that caught me - hook line and sinker.

sleeping bag people
(my friend Hadas christened them)
2000
hand-built earthenware w/inlay and underglaze decoration
12cm x 7cm diameter

toothbrush cup

2000
handbuilt earthenware w/ stamped decoration and engobe
8cm x 7cm diameter