I started my interest in pottery creation in 1983 making mushroom jars at the craft center at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. The people that worked at the center made the bisque for the jars, then I applied the under-glazes, and the craft center folks put on the clear glaze and fired them. I was hooked when the jars came out of the kiln and were finished. I was amazed by how beautiful the jars looked when completed. I always thought to myself that I wanted to pursue this craft, but life marched on, and the desire was put on the back burner.

In 1996 my soon to be wife Angela sparked that desire again when she took me to a make your own pottery store to make Christmas ornaments. They really turned out nicely and have become family heirlooms. In 1997, shortly after we were married, I decided that I wanted to take a class in throwing pottery on the wheel. I ended up taking 2 classes back to back at different places. The first class was at the EMU in the University of Oregon Craft center, and the next was at Maude Kerns art center in Eugene. This gave me a good foundation on my quest to create pottery. I purchased a wheel shortly after the classes an then a kiln about 6 months later 

Since then I have scoured the Internet and read everything I could get my hands on. I continued to create pottery, selling it here and there mostly to co-workers and friends. In 1999 I entered the pots in competition at the Lane County Fair and at the Mayor's Art Show in Springfield, Oregon winning Blue Ribbons in each event. Those events gave me great encouragement, and I've steadily worked on improving my work from that time forward.

I have developed several combinations of clay, glaze, and firing profiles that work for me, and I continue to try new things as I travel on my ever-changing journey of pottery perfection. Pottery isn't just a hobby for me but my passion. This web page allows me to wrap up all of the things that I love to do into one project. I've been a computer junkie ever since my Sinclair ZX-80, (other junkies will understand). I love to write, and I love to work with graphics and animations. That is why I'm offering a free screensaver; It was just fun to make.

So enjoy the web site as it continues to grow. I'm continually working on new projects and have recenty created a new gallery that will let you order profesional prints and gift items, how about a mug with a picture of a mug on it? Hehe.

Enjoy!

Dan LaFollette

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