The potter

Artist statement

I was born and raised in a beautiful farm. I still have vivid memories of that time but one in particular stands out. That is of when I would gather sand on the dirt road under the huge platan tree and plough it, with those beautiful pieces of bark, into a field. I was trying to imitate my father of course and I loved the results. Only much later on, at art college, I realised that in fact I was making what could easily have been interpreted as a Zen garden. I didn’t know that I was at art school already !

I come across clay and the wheel by chance in the early 70’ in London. After six years of studies and experience essentially as a thrower, I come back to Italy where in 1980 I established a workshop for the production of domestic ware and the summer school.
During the years my approach to making has changed and has fluctuated both in the pots and firing techniques. At present I am primarily interested on porcelain as a material and wood firing as a way to complement the essence of what I want to convey.
The wheel was and still is my drawing force to which I completely surrender. I have been a production potter and I believe that repetition has a significance that goes far beyond the idea of production. I strongly believe that repetition, rehearsal and continuous practice are part of the fundamental elements of any art expression. (Genuine work is never easy. The effort is the reward, and success which costs nothing is worth exactly what it cost. Charles Fergus Binns).

I now make pots in small series, creating similar forms in various sizes and exploring the relationships between them. I approach the process of making with as much freedom as possible and I indulge in improvisations, variations, alterations and celebrations.
My ultimate goal is to trap beauty while drawing three dimensionally on a spinning wheel. I am very fortunate and can be profoundly moved by a finished form in it’s leather hard state. When this happens I feel that the object is somehow completed even before glazing and firing.
I have dedicated and still give a lot of time and effort to teaching. Most of my energy is concentrated on organizing, running and developing new initiatives for La Meridiana, the International School of Ceramics in Tuscany of which I am the founder and director.
In 2011 La Meridiana, as a partner, celebrated the start in Certaldo Alto, of a Studies Abroad Program with East Caroline University. An initiative which brings hundreds of young art students to the wonders of Italy.

“ I am willing to accept less than the best, but never to strive for less than the best. To do otherwise is like taking aim without your sights on the bull’s eye”.
David Shaner.