The picture on the left is of my brother and I a couple years ago. He comes up on weekends to help me fire. We also sit around and critique each other's work; he's a talented painter. For as long as I can remember the two of us have been making art.

Formally, I began my "Artistic Journey" at Kansas State University were I eventually earned a Batchelor's degree in Education and a Batchelor's degree in Fine Art with an emphasis on drawing and printmaking. After college I began teaching High School Art where I quickly needed to develop my ceramic skills. Fortunately for me a local Raku artist named Joyce Furney agreed to show me the ropes and mentored me for a few years until I left education and went to work for her, becoming her apprentice taking over the hand building and firing for the studio. Under her tutelage I gained vast knowledge of Raku that only a master can teach you, and the first lesson is embrace Wabi-sabi and
simply create.