I believe Art is an invaluable way of interacting with and seeing people.  Cultural ideals, systems of value, and perceptions of beauty are embodied in and transmitted through art. My interests and inspiration lie in art forms that explore the human condition, tell a story, and reinforce or oppose social values.  I enjoy viewing as well as creating art with clay as my preferred medium.  History and culture play large roles in my work. I especially love the artistic traditions, cultures and histories of the many different people who live in Sub-Saharan Africa.  I am inspired by the stylized realism, visual abstraction and the emphasis on social roles embodied in much of the artwork from that region.  It is my hope that the work I create, in some way, is informed by those very qualities and styles. 

Currently, I am researching and developing a body of work that reflects the ceramic traditions of late 19th and early 20th century North Carolina potters.  In many instances, potters from that location and time combined the utilitarian aspects of European ceramics with African artistic traditions that came to the region by way of the slave trade. It is my goal to incorporate the utilitarian and artistic qualities of that era and culture with my own stylistic preferences to create an Artistic design that is visually pleasing while hopefully exhibiting the cultural qualities that made the potters of North Carolina stand out as one of the great Folk Arts and Crafts industries of our nation.