Music and nature are instilled in Robert Zumwalt and the objects he creates.  Robert grew up in the suburbs of Fresno, California. During his formative years, Robert’s family frequented the Sierras. The Epic parks of Yosemite and Sequoia National served as church and playground.  Drawn to music at an early age, Robert spent half his life studying classical piano and clarinet, culminating in a master’s degree.  Following school, he volunteered at San Francisco’s arboretum where he studied botanical form and landscape which lead to work as a gardener. Robert conceptualized and installed gardens using his foundation of music.  Musical ideas of form, structure, texture, motifs and style leant themselves to constructing physical space. The seasons and the ephemeral nature of the garden became his meter and rhythm.  At age thirty-five Robert enrolled in his first pottery class.  Initially, he was enamored with producing functional ceramics, the technique and physicality of wheel throwing. However, the call of the sublime, a reminiscence to music making, of constructing and sharing other worlds returned to Robert’s aspirations. As he now focuses on bringing a sense of time and space into immutable objects, Robert continues to use the transformative experience of music as his guiding light.