I first became enthralled with clay and ceramics when taking hand building classes at the Art Students League in Denver. Always having had a passion and a practice of art making, I finally found my preferred medium. After much consideration, my strong affinity for creating in clay led to giving up a career in the sciences and going back to school to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with concentration in ceramics. I have never looked back.

Hand building with clay is both a pleasure and a challenge that I find compelling. As a medium, clay starts out as forgiving and flexible- both literally and figuratively- which allows for a vast range of creativity in form and shape. This is what endears me to the process of hand building, the range of possibilities which are endless as you feel and observe the potential within the clay. As with any medium, it is crucial to learn and understand the limitations of the material you work with, as well as its possibilities, and with clay this knowledge can help you push the material boundaries to achieve something different. When it comes to attempting new things, some of which may not be successful, you always learn something. Although I tend to have a structured approach towards my making, planning a design and often making templates or models, I find it freeing to sometimes just start working with the clay having only a vague idea in mind, shaping something into existence that is more driven by feel and response.

Learning and exploring is an ongoing and important aspect of my work, something I enjoy and something that never ends. As with all things in life, it is impossible for us to know everything, and with art making we can only hope to achieve a decent level of competence that allows us to create something worthwhile!

HORTON CERAMICS