As I was growing up in West Virginia, my family instilled great love of the outdoors, travel and art. Life has granted a great diversity of stimulation and appreciation for natural beauty, from my childhood mountainside home to the many unforgettable scenes of my life’s journey. Art dominates my gene pool. Mom, her father and sister, cousins and more were all artists. It seems whoever in my family wasn’t an artist was an art collector. It is thus instinctive to be creative and the most natural way to express myself. The creative process provides me with indescribable joy . The look and texture of my pottery expresses my life: visions of home, travel out west and abroad, vacations in the Caribbean Islands and many other indelible imprints and influences. My goal and ultimate challenge is to create pottery that balances each sculpture’s uniqueness and appeal with true functionality and usefulness.