I am a vessel maker.

My vessels are made, not so much for use, but for their visual impact and symbolic significance.

Through ceramics, I have access to a rich global legacy of vessel thinking -- all of it serves as contemporary inspiration. In a series I call The Vessel Alphabet, I have been going through vessel names and creating variations on vessel shapes.

Each vessel type has an iconic form that can be explored, altered, and pushed.  For me, that is where the fun is.  Duckbill is part of my investigation of Ewer.  Dictionary definitions of Ewer mention a wide mouth pitcher, often with a pedestal base; internet imagery shows an array of vessels clearly not conforming to that definition.  My exploration of Ewer is a riff on vessel imagery from the middle east.

Vessels from The Vessel Alphabet can be seen at NWdesignercraftsmen.org under artists/arts advocates, then Lois Harbaugh.