“I was anxious to get away from the potter’s wheel and vessel form so I returned to what I had been doing as a child – making animals. The only necessary difference was that my new animals had to be large and hollow. I knew that any armature I used would have to be removable. I came up with a technique of building a rigid skeleton with tin foil and vermiculite, as well as large amounts of masking tape. The armature is covered with white earthenware and the animal’s features are sculpted. After drying to a leather hard state, the animal is then cut in half and the entire armature is removed. The two halves are then carefully rejoined and bisque fired. Generally, this part of the process takes 1 to 3 weeks. The animal is then broken into pieces using the wooden handle of a hammer. Then each piece is glazed separately and fired. Some of the pieces are fired a second time with lusters or another layer of glaze in a different color to create depth and design. When the firing process is complete, I use a paste epoxy to reconstruct the animal creating the finished product.”