My current work is wood fired ceramic and cast bronze. I began working in ceramic at Foothill College in 2002 where I learned wheel, throwing, hand-building, glazing an soda firing. I am now working at West Valley College in Saratoga learning bronze and aluminum casting. I am also working as a teaching assistant in the throwing and ceramic hand-building classes. I glaze fire most of my ceramic work in the Spring Valley Anagama kilns in Milpitas during the winter firing season.

 

Ceramics (Wood fire): Because the kilns are fired with wood, the firing cycles are different from traditional gas reduction kilns. Ceramic wood fired with wood has a unique look that happens when wood ash becomes silica and glazes the work or changes existing glazes.

 

Bronze: My bronze pieces are the result of working at the metal casting foundry at West Valley College. The figurative pieces are first built and detailed in wax then covered in 8-10 layers of ceramic shell. The wax is the melted out of the shell (or mold). Molten bronze is then poured in. After the metal has cooled, the ceramic shell is broken away. The metal piece is then trimmed and refined with heat and chemicals into the finished work.

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As I have studied art my whole life, I would rather consider myself as an observer of art. I do not need to call myself an artist. On selling my art: I am not interested in selling art, except to support the gallery.When someone buys my work, I feel grateful that they have chosen a part of my imagination or perception as a valuable accent to their environment. I cannot put a monetary value on that.