My work in the studio is the natural progression of two lifelong passions - the preparation, presentation and ultimate enjoyment of great food with others, and the satisfaction of feeling objects take form in my hands from a mound of clay. After receiving a degree in Ceramic Arts from Penn State, I built a career as an executive chef, primarily in Los Angeles, Philly and Boston. Once I was ready to hang up my apron professionally, my focus was fixed on returning to the studio where I could nurture an extension of my 30 year culinary career by combining the knowledge and skills I have in both disciplines. After all, creating handmade pottery and preparing a meal are concerned with many of the same principles and practices: using good ingredients, mixing, cutting, measuring, heating and tweaking the recipe throughout the process to achieve the perfect dish!

I’m lucky, I have a kitchen equipped to feed a small army, and just steps away, a studio with a wheel, a kiln and dozens of hand tools I use to create functional pieces for the kitchen, table and home. My vessels are both wheel-thrown and hand built from stoneware and terra cotta clays. Using drawing and painting techniques developed over decades of observing, experimenting and fine tuning, each piece is then finished using colors, patterns and designs inspired by our natural landscape. Every piece is unique by nature as I allow the slight variations in glazes, individual firings, and the clay itself to lend an irreproducible quality reserved solely for that which is handmade.

Inspired by living, working and teaching amid the New England charm of Cape Cod for many years, I now split my time between the Cape’s ever changing vistas, and the tropical backdrop of my Southwest Florida home and studio. I draw inspiration from my surroundings wherever I’m lucky enough to find myself, welcoming the afternoon sun to dry my pieces as they await the next steps of my process.