Most potters working in stoneware produce cups, bowls, pitchers or vases with a certain similarity. Some mimic classic shapes while others masterfully produce stylized forms. A few make sculptural interpretations of functional pieces assembled in a style uniquely their own. I am one such person. My pots, constructed from slabs or using a pinch-strip method I developed, bear the look of burnished metal, tooled leather or whimsical china. My techniques makes building featherweight forms of many shapes and sizes a possibility. In addition, I address how what I am going to make will look before asking the question, what's it going to be - an approach quite out of the norm for most potters. My reasoning is quite simple - "Fashion designers don't envision clothing designs in drab muslin - they employ rich silk textures, tartans and tapestries when fashioning their creations. Why not do the same as a hand builder of clay? Why not let colorfully created engobe plaids or knobby textured clay surfaces have a say in what I end up making?" My signature pieces evolve from the stoneware 'fabrics' I create out of thinly rolled slabs enhanced with patterns, texture and color. It is my unorthodox methodologies coupled with classic hand building techniques - pinching, coiling, extruding - that attract students to my classes. Students who are seldom disappointed with the way their pots look when they retrieve them from the glaze firing, because the way they will end up looking is addressed from their inception!