Biography
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General Background
I Grew up in San Francisco and became interested in art from about nine or ten years old. My father had an art-related business in which I helped, and I was around painters and craftspeople a lot. I also frequented San Francisco's Chinatown area and developed an interest in calligraphy that is still with me. I graduated from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California, began working as a potter in the early 70's, and in 1981 bought a large "working man's Victorian" home in the Ocean View district of Berkeley. I had it lifted 10 feet in the air by a house mover, and built an 1,850-sq. ft. studio for myself underneath the original structure |
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Studio Production
Except for occasional experiments with low-temperature saggar firing, and some soluble salt pieces, I fire all my work at 1,300 C° in two gas reduction kilns. I produce about 1,000 to 1,500 pieces a year, and although I do some repeat throwing, most of the thrown and hand-built slab pieces are made in small, very limited production runs. I experiment constantly with new glazes, materials, and decorating techniques, incorporating them into my work if they prove attractive and interesting. |
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Sales
Over the years I've found that I prefer selling my work directly to customers rather than through galleries. More often than not, the business relationship becomes a personal and friendly one also. Working this way gives me the time and freedom to concentrate on quality and to explore new ideas.
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Travel
An introduction to a Japanese potter, Mr. Kenichi Saito, in 1986, resulted in a six-year long series of reciprocal visits and exhibits, and an award for me at the 1988 Japan Pottery Association's international juried exhibition. I was able to visit Tokyo, Kobe, Takematsu, Kyoto, Sendai, and Mr. Saito's hometown, Kesennuma. I've also been fortunate to have visited Korea three times, and to have organized and participated in a group show of California potters at the Toh-Art Space gallery in Seoul, in 1995.
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Family
In 1996 I married Yon Soon Yoon, and gained not only a lovely wife with a boundlessly generous heart, but two exceptional and very bright stepchildren, Amy and Joohn. I also gained an enormous extended family consisting of my father and mother in law, 6 brothers and sisters in law, 8 nieces, and 5 nephews. We have to clear out the studio in order to have family gatherings.
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