Each functional piece of pottery is first thrown on a wheel then modified. Currently I use two types of clay, Wild Catawba from StarWorks and Coleman 10 porcelain from Aardvark clay. What determines the clay used are the glazes and the firing process. My porcelain clay is single fired in my electric clay. When wood firing, I prefer to single fire the Wild Catawba clay. This clay interacts beautifully when exposed to the atmospheric conditions within a wood fired kiln.

I enjoy mixing and experimenting with glazes. While most people like the practicality and predictability of store bought glazes, I like to walk a different path and combine the feldspars, clays, silica, colorants and other materials which make up a glaze. My glazes are sprayed on in as many as seven layers using gravity-fed automotive spray guns. The glaze colors selected are influenced by many of the panoramic views found in Alleghany County. Tones of reds, greens, and blues reflect the regions surrounding my studio including the wilderness making up Rich Hole and Rough Mountain with the Cowpasture River dividing these two mountainous ranges.