Artistic Statement
Characters - with a capital “C” - have always played a significant part in my life. The colorful and larger-than-life Characters in the extended Irish family of my youth introduced me to both the profound and the mundane, but usually with large doses of irreverent laughter. And that world seemed a small step away from my career in the theatre - as an actor, scenic designer, and theatre professor- where the study of Character is central to all.
Character figures prominently in all my work as a ceramic artist. With my ceramic pieces, whether functional or sculptural (or both), I look to create attitude in the inanimate. . . to express life with the lifeless clay . . . always with large doses of whimsy.
Over 2000 years ago the philosopher and scientist Aristotle wrote that all living things are in a constant state of becoming, all moving toward their highest form. As an artist, I seek to capture a view, a snapshot, of the ironies, contradictions, complexities and, most importantly, the humor in these universal journeys of living things. . . the Characters that populate our world.
BIO
Theatre was my first love and my long-time profession. After completing an MFA in Scenic Design (Univ. of Oregon), I worked several years as a theatre scenic designer and actor in professional and educational theatre. I was next a professor of theatre (I earned a PhD in Theatre, Univ. of Kansas), first at Virginia Tech and, for over twenty years, at Arizona State University, from which I retired as Professor Emeritus in 2012. Designing theatre scenery and teaching esthetic theory and criticism throughout much of my career reinforced my love for and work with the visual and three-dimensional elements of the arts.
I first became involved with ceramics thirteen years ago when I followed a whim to enroll in a basic hand-building class. I was immediately hooked! From that time on I have eagerly pursued classes and workshops, locally and regionally, to study this challenging art form. Since my retirement I have devoted virtually full time to my work in ceramics; and throughout this time I have been blessed with the support and insight from incredibly generous and skilled artists/mentors who have guided my journey from theatre design to the art and craft of ceramics.
Throughout the last decade I have shown my work in juried exhibitions and arts festivals at a wide variety of venues. including: Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, AZ; Coconino Center for the Arts, Flagstaff, AZ; Sonoran Arts League, Carefree AZ; The Art Gallery, Herberger Theatre, Phoenix, Az; Wham West Art Center, Surprise, AZ; the annual Arizona Arts Festival, The Shemer Arts Center, Phoenix, AZ; and the annual Open Studios Tour, Flagstaff Artists Coalition, Flagstaff, AZ.