This was an experimental project funded by the Art + Design 2014 Spring VPAA Ceramic Grant from Harford Community College. The entire process of creating this project was completed in five weeks. The wet work was done on a flat piece of plywood measuring 3' x 5'. After building up the sculpture into it final form, it was hollowed out and prepared for bisque cone 06 fire. Additionally, due to the limits of kiln space the large piece was cut into naturally flowing lines and several pieces to be reassembled after bisque fire before glazing. Glaze was applied by hand painting and the use of syringe to direct glazes giving the impression of texture. The glazing process took more than 16 hours and was done in multiple layers in the attempt to simulate a natural environment and textures of the iguana and the flora within the abstraction. After the cone 6 glaze fire in two electric kilns it was reshape and assembled in a new formulation to the shape it assumes as the final project. While the widest points are still 5' wide x 3' high with relief of at least 6" to 8" in places - it is irregular in shape. The final piece is glued down to double plys of wood 5/8 inches thick, glued and screwed together and then the finished relief tile are adhered with commercial tile glue and then grouted with earthtone grout throughout the piece and the edges of the completed work. There are two pieces, one with a weight of around 70 lbs and the other around 30 lbs. It is currently hung with commercial hangers and airline wire until it reaches it final installation and a variety of options are open. The entire process has been captured on film and animated in a youtube video and may be watched at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpKmm6ZCVug.

This is drawing about a perspective on reality, and at any given time change is inevitable. There is a season where there illness, there is a season for healing, and there is a season for thriving. The drawing is on Strathmore 400 Series Drawing Paper measuring 18" x 24". Pencil, Charcoal, Sumi Ink Brush, Sumi Ink Pen and Watercolors have been used in creating this drawing.

Raku is a process, and each step in the creation of a piece of work is an expression of art. Therefore, the timeline of creating raku pots is added to my projects. Raku produces unpredictable results, often producing pieces of simplicity and inexplicable beauty. However, finding the beauty in raku work requires a letting go of a particular and expected result. Other pieces are also offered from other time periods and are so noted. The bisque vessels in images 1, 2, 4 and 5 were made by ceramic artist Mark Hatfield, and given to me to use to experiment with a variety of raku glazing combinations. Image 3 is ceramic artist and college instructor Paul Lyon pulling hot vessels from the raku kiln during a group firing at Harford Community College being captured in a photograph to illustration the speed with which this process happens and speed with which one must work.

This is an oil painting which was started in November 2013 trying to capture the mood of my depression and how hopeless it felt. It was an agonizing piece as to work at this esoteric level requires a mindful approach where one must push out intruding thoughts and feelings. It was finally finished in April 2014. It served the purpose of helping to cultivate my mind toward working more intuitively and directly from the unconscious mind to explore themes and concepts rather than being trapped in the flatness of unbridled affect can have upon art and being unable to communicate beyond the obvious. It is this piece that pushed my work into what I now consider to be art giving the viewer an experience rather than impression.

This sculpture, with the base stands 24" tall and made of red rock clay body. It is intended to be an abstraction of a coral reef, and allows the viewer to be able to mentally swim through the natural caves. Thus, it has an internal and external surface that has been completely carved inside and out. It is fired to cone 06 and then spray painted. The base is hand turned from pine. The stain was made from walnut oil, turpentine and oil paints. The sculpture can be seen differently from various angles. In formal display it will be flooded with blue and white light. The second image is an additional piece to go with the Devil's Throat, a diving point in the southern point of the island of Cozumel, Mexico. The second sculpture is made of the Phoenix white clay body and is about 15" wide and stands about 8" tall. Each scroll is hand rolled separately into the larger cavity until it appears to be one continuous object. This project is based on diving experiences in the Gulf of Mexico of the coast of Texas and in the Yucatan, Mexico.

This is a piece inspired by Georgia O'Keefe from my exposure to her work while living in New Mexico. My goal was to take her two dimensional paintings and bring them into a three dimensional work. The free standing sculpture is in two pieces, with the bottom being a thrown vessel, that is then hand carved and the top, the flower being separate. The clay body is 182 white clay and is bisque fired at cone 04 then glazed by hand painting. The intensity of the red with black flecks are the result of applying seven coats of the red and a splattering of metallic black and then fired at cone 6. The bottom piece is glazed Peacock Green and is approximately 8" tall and 6" at its widest part. The flower is 14" wide and 6" at its tallest part.

This is a celebration of the female form. It is a free standing sculpture of an old Hollywood style gown. The piece is built with red rock clay body and firmly and strongly supported from the bottom of the flowing gown with an armature built from a thrown vessel supporting the rest of the work. The piece stand more than 24". The glaze was intended to look textured, and the final touch amethyst crystals inlaid on the bottom of the gown. Live plants are growing from the bustline of the dress. The title of the piece is a pun, as while there are gems on the dress, her greatest assets are her hips and bust and her full figure body.

The clay body is Red Rock. Bisque fired at cone 06 and glaze fired in electric kiln at cone 6. This piece is handbuilt sculpted relief. 14" high and 12" wide with a relief of 3". The final piece is mounted on oak plank and to be hung with a wire. The piece is inspired by the watercolors of Georgia O'Keefe as I attempt to bring her two dimensional watercolors into three dimensional relief. There is a great deal of experimentation with glazes in the attempt to make the sculptures look natural. The glazing the each individual piece in this project took between three and four hours.

This was an experimental process of using of using multiple glazes on platters in the gas kiln to get an effect of vitrix glass. The bisque platters were made by ceramic artist Mark Hatfield and given to me. I used the platters to continue to push the limits of understanding outcomes from glazing and experiment with multiple glazes being fired in a gas kiln. The experiment was successful with astounding result. Again, keeping with my style of glazing, all glazes are hand brushed in three coats and then accent glazes are applied in a loose but rhythmic manner. The colors are robust and the combinations compelling.

Slabs are often rolled out and forgotten and dry in their irregular shapes and patterns. These are seen as opportunities for creating underglaze paintings after the bisque fire to attempt to emulate pen and ink drawings through the use of underglazing. This is a long process, as each color requires at least three layers of underglaze which are as near to perfect painted on top of each other. This pieces about 16" wide and 13" in height. After refiring at cone 06 the glaze has visible overlap, it is touched up and refired. Once it is to my satisfaction a thin coat of clear glaze is applied. This piece as two small holes at the top and is hung by a braided cord. I have been doing pen and ink drawings since the 1970s and it is the medium I was most comfortable with until I found other mediums I could attempt to get the same effect of fluidity and spontaneity.