Horsehair Raku fired urn vessel
As far back as I can remember I wanted to draw. My mother loved to sketch and instilled that love in me. I am the proud product of a working class family, growing up in East Boston on the 3rd floor above the shoemaker. . My father and grandfather were both skilled carpenters and cabinet makers. Both brothers are skilled carpenters and designers. From them, I developed an appreciation of well crafted, functional objects. The first “work or art” I remember doing was a small ocean scene done for my mom on an old pillowcase. After a tour in the military and visits to Vietnam, Thailand, Korea and Japan I returned to the states. I acquired a love of antiques and well built objects that included art objects, commercial machinery, tools and architecture. I met my wife Lu in Texas and we were married in 1969. Our daughter Rhonda was born in 1970. I then decided to go back to school and study art and education.
My original concentration was in education, painting and printmaking at Mass College of Art in Boston MA (1976) Landscape elements, plants, stones and stone formations were a favorite subject matter. During graduate school, I enrolled in a ceramics class and was hooked. My professor and later friend and mentor, John Heller took me under his wing and introduced me to the wonders of clay. We studied the wheel, hand building and sculpture, stoneware, porcelain and of course Raku firing. I immediately fell in love with the immediacy and wonder of the Raku process. Recently, I have rekindled my love of high fired functional ceramics, handmade brushes, mixed media and gardening as well. The natural landscape, Water, Earth, Fire, the basic elements of clay and good craftsmanship remain an inspiration to this day. I recently retired from 35 years of teaching art at Brockton high school and Bridgewater State University. I am now a full-time studio artist.
