I create sculptural forms, functional ware and commissions, which are all high-fired stoneware in our wood kiln. This has led me to investigate renewable resources and native plant glazes. When I left college in 1986 wood firing was not a common practice within the field, so I took it upon myself to create my own program of study to achieve the goals I had in mind. I have built a variety of kilns and have done extensive glaze research on native clay bodies and plant fibers. The wood firing is a passion, an intense and industrious process. Straw and cattails from the wetlands add color in the form of ash glaze to the surface of the wood fired ceramics. I create glazes from the ash in our wood stove that heats the house and studio. We collect rainwater in barrels to use in the clay and paper processes. The work that is produced is like no other due to the wood fly ash and plant fiber introduced into the glaze chamber during firing.
My wife and I started Hook Pottery Paper in 1997, which has become paper arts and clay studios in northwest Indiana. We have an onsite gallery connected to the studios where we sell our work.