For the past few weeks, we have been experiencing the constant whirring of cicadas, as they break through their exoskeletons and emerge in their adult forms to take to the air. For some of us this cacophony is annoying, but it is music to my ears as it signals the availability of cicada sheds - that exoskeleton part that is left…
Way More Than Infatuation People have always been curious to learn about the creative process. "Where do you get your ideas?... How long does it take?... Do you draw it first?"... etc. When I am asked these questions, here is what I have to say about my process: In the past, I have occasionally had a complete and preconceived idea, gone to…
We arrived just before dinner at our hotel in Bar Harbor, Maine and were immediately overwhelmed by the cool air full of the fragrance of sea and kelp. It was a perfect day and a perfect evening, sitting outside with our dinner overlooking the bay as the light dimmed. We took a walk along the water, probably one of the…
Have I learned yet to love uncertainty? Creating work in ceramic is not like painting. When you put a combination of glaze chemicals on clay and subject them to high heat, what you get is almost always surprising, even though you may have run many glaze tests and fired pieces under identical conditions. You do your best to control your outcomes,…
I was in New York near the end of August this summer visiting my friend Jan who, with her husband, has an apartment in a building designed by I. M. Pei. The city morgue is within shouting distance from them. After 9/11, for almost a year, the broad sidewalk along the front of the apartment building was wall to wall…