Along with designing and making functional work, I make a series of large-scale works that are explorations of form, volume and surface. In the exploration of non-functional decorative sculptural forms my primary design elements are negative space and texture informed by architecture and the definition of form in space. As a potter/ceramic artist, I utilize the arch in the construction of kilns. I love looking at and studying cathedrals, temples and large architectural structures that use the arch for beauty, nobility and stability. Architectural arches are a direct influence in the design of my forms that use that shape and structure to define positive and negative space with volume in a refined and embellished form. In the sense that architecture is both functional and decorative, with ornamentation that is beautiful and plentiful, these works are indebted to the wonderful history of the decorative arts, technology and natural sciences that came from Europe and Asia over the ages.