Rotten Potter

Since I graduated from Bellevue University with a B.F.A. in Studio Art, I have wanted to return to school and particularly the studio atmosphere. I have realized how much I benefited from being involved in the art department and how important other people are to my development. My experiences, both good and bad, with students, faculty, and visiting artists helped me to identify myself as a part of a community and as an artist.

RottenPotter is an experiment using my artwork as a business. I never have enjoyed marketing or business, but find myself in need of both for professional growth. This website is one of many steps towards many goals. I want my art to create additional income rather than expense. I want my work to be displayed in more galleries and private collections. I want to participate in a ceramics residency. I want to get a M.F.A. in Ceramics and eventually teach at the college level.

RottenPotter is a collection of my work and represents my creative philosophy, outlook, and attitude. I don't like to refer to myself as an artist. Art can be associated with many different people and ideas, and I prefer to be known as a painter or potter. Just about anyone can be seen as an artist in one way or another. Some artists and artwork we admire, others we despise. ‘Art’ and ‘Artist’ have many different interpretations and I want to avoid confusion in regards to my work and myself.

I enjoy and appreciate the history, thought processes, manual labor, emotional expressions, manipulation of materials and learning experiences that are inherent in Studio Art. I believe that order and chaos are both essential elements to creative work. I tend to be private in producing and displaying my work. Donors, patrons and collectors are always welcome and appreciated.

Favorite Quotes

"The best pots for me are the pots I like." Shoji Hamada (1894-1978)

"Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature." Josef Albers (1888-1976)

"The art of tomorrow will be a collective treasure or it will not be art at all." Victor Vasarely (1906-1997)

"Bad artists copy. Good artists steal." Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it."

"I don't do drugs. I am drugs. " Salvador Dali (1904- 1989)

“We adore chaos because we love to produce order.” M.C. Escher (1898- 1972)

“I acknowledge the privilege of being alive in a human body at this moment, endowed with senses, memories, emotions, thoughts, and the space of mind in its wisdom aspect.” ”In a society that tries to standardize thinking, individuality is not highly prized.” Alex Grey (1953- )

“Because artists can be extremely eccentric and insane, and unfortunately, the people they hurt the most are the people that are closest to them.” Maynard James Keenan (1964- )

“Every artist knows that he is engaged in an encounter with infinity, and that work done with heart and hand is ultimately worship of life itself.” Bernard Leach (1887- 1979)

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” Dalai Llama ( - )

“I think art is the only thing that's spiritual in the world. No one person can own the copyright to what God means.” Marilyn Manson (1969 - )

“To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself.”

“You're only as young as the last time you changed your mind.” Timothy Leary (1920 -1996)

“Movie directors, or should I say people who create things, are very greedy and they can never be satisfied... That's why they can keep on working. I've been able to work for so long because I think next time, I'll make something good.” Akira Kurosawa (1910 -1998)

“Self-plagiarism is style.” Alfred Hitchcock (1899 -1980)

“Acting is everybody's favorite second job.”

“I don't want people to know what I'm actually like. It's not good for an actor.”

“I only take Viagra when I'm with more than one woman.” Jack Nicholson (1937 - )

"Although the transformation of matter is essential in the creation process, it is the artist's personal vision that directs the outcome of the chaos. It's the mix and match of figurative and abstract forms that direct the sculptor out of chaos." Les Bruning

"I love to facet, alter, assemble and add sculptural elements to my wheel thrown forms. I use cone 10 reduction stoneware for its durability and functionality; spraying contrasting glazes, seeking both depth and detail in color, and contrast of texture that will accentuate the sculptural aspects of my forms. I am always looking to express gesture, fluidity, and arrested motion: the essence of process. The process is my passion." Tony Winchester

“By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.”

“There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.”

”The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept.”

“Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did.”

”If we could just find out who's in charge, we could kill him.”

“Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.”

“Dusting is a good example of the futility of trying to put things right. As soon as you dust, the fact of your next dusting has already been established.”

George Carlin (1937 -2008)