Who Is Chops?
Chops is a nickname after many years of my facial hair worn as mutton chops.
For me, art is not only a way to express myself, but also to connect with others. My grandmother was incredibly artistic and used many different media to create. One of her many skills was pottery. At the start of high school, I took an interest in pottery as well. When I told my grandmother, she was so excited that I was learning a skill that she loved. She was no longer capable of using a pottery wheel, but she loved watching me and giving me constructive criticism.
After her passing, I received her old pottery notebook from when she took classes in the 1960s. It was full of projects she wanted to do, magazine clippings for inspiration, and even recipes for glazes.
How I Started
I started throwing in 2010 at high school and quickly fell in love. The wonderful teachers I had were so supportive and excited about my progress and my work, it made a huge difference in my life. I think that Ceramics saved my life in a way. I even received a few awards for it and continued to learn and create in community college. One thing I avoided, even then, was becoming too comfortable and recreating the same types of pieces. I went through phases of pushing certain limits. How well could I make matching sets of cups with the same dimensions? What was the largest amount of clay I could throw at once? How thin can I make the walls of a piece before it collapses? This experimentation and exploration has been key to reaching my current skill level.
How I Got Here
After 2016, life got in the way and I focused on other things for a few years. After working at various jobs that were not my passion and the stress of the pandemic, I decided in 2021 that I needed to do art again and put all my effort behind it.
In January 2022 I left my job. I took time to set up my own outdoor studio and gathered all the the tools and materials I would need. Just like when I was in high school, I took to it very quickly. Before long I had gotten my throwing skills back. Once I mastered the ins and outs of my kiln, I was ready to share my creations with others. A mix of tried and true designs as well as newer ideas are formed, glazed, and fired all in my home studio. If you would like to see some of my work that is available for purchase please click the button below.