Growing up in my uncles studio I learned to appreciate the value of functional work and the way the right piece can elevate the mundane. Wrapping your hands around a hot coffee mug on a winter morning or drinking the last bit of milk from a cereal bowl with just the right lip can be as meaningful as standing in front of a famous painting .

This philosophy is especially rewarding to the maker, knowing that these pieces are not collecting dust on a shelf, but are being used on a daily basis is a reminder that they continue to have a life after they leave the studio. Philosopher Tim Ingold summarizes it this way, “The realization that the bowl will continue after you are dead can raise the awareness of the transience of life. Do works of art continue to grow after they have been made? If a tea bowl develops cracks after being used ritually to drink tea from, is the material still growing?” I love the idea that somewhere in the work that leaves my studio lays the possibility to elevate a good meal, warm a cozy morning or spark a great conversation.