Creation is a conversation. Once pen sets to paper, brush to canvas, or the first bits of clay are formed one must listen to what these new shapes in reality have to say. It is a fervent and whispered discussion with our souls filtered through the prisms of informed experience and sought knowledge. One can not just force his or her idea into being for we must diligently react to what is developing before us. You may carefully lay the steps of success and succession orderly beneath the feet of a child but with this child's first step the pave stones of parental guidance must be shifted and continuously realigned to assist the tiny human. The nature and placement of these steps of assistance become an operation of cooperation and the parent must trust to the intuition and direction of the child. An art work is the same. As the creation develops it leads me to paths I had not nor should not have conceived. If I forge on with deaf ear I dampen its possibilities. It is the ability to communicate with and relate to the growth of ones creation which maximizes the outcomes. It is why I view all of my works as my children. And why would anyone want to have a child and not listen to him?

My Harry Potter pot originally began as a Hermione pot. I had failed to realize that I could not just simply shape the features of the girl onto a head with such generalized form. My Hermione pot became more of a Greek like head and my clay began to whisper the idea of a Medusa to me. This coil pot developed from the bottom up and once I reached the eyes my creation spoke of Harry Potter to me and I listened. I am reminded of the art Mary GrandPre' created for the books, my favorite books by the way. I sometimes wonder what sort of boy J.K. Rowling envisions when Harry Potter whispers in her mind.

The lid is Tom Riddle and symbolizes not only their psychic connection but the influence he had over the direction of Harry Potter's life. Without Voldemort there would be no boy who lived. We all have these influences and shapings of our lives, some positive, some not. But we must listen to these whisperings that guide us and we must create and live with them and not against them. And after all, who does not have a little bit of Voldemort inside?