This online gallery of original art presents my sculptural works in ceramic and bronze and my paintings in ink, watercolour, and encaustic wax. Since 1986, my partner, Carl Merten, and I have committed our professional lives to sculptural works for commission and exhibition in bronze, stone, stainless steel, aluminium, and, most recently, ceramics. The works here are recent ceramic sculptures, ink brush and encaustic wax paintings. The responsive and alive feel of clay under my fingers; the flow of the brush as it glides over the surface of paper or clay – these tactile experiences give immense pleasure. I once talked to a ceramicist as he painted black stain onto leather hard clay for hours at a time for someone else to carve. I asked if he felt disappointment that he would not do the carving. “No,” he said, “I just like the feel of the brush moving over the clay.” I knew exactly what he meant.
Of course, making art is more than technique and process, however highly satisfying they are. The alchemical process of turning clay, ink, and paper into meaningful and expressive images and forms is an act of magic. How does dirt and soot become something worth looking at or using?
I attempt to transform clay and ink into meaningful visual experiences. The influences are obvious: female imagery, mythology, sumi-e and brush traditions of Japanese and Chinese painting, and of course, cats, who to me, express in their movement and character, grace and independence.
