About Don

I began my life in clay while still in high school in the mid 1970’s. My art teacher, Stewart Aikman, was an inspiration and very encouraging of my interest in pottery. “Stewie”, introduced me to local potters Ron Roy and Michael Davis. After school I went to work for these two individuals and was soon hired as the ceramics technician at Centennial College where they taught. I watched, I practiced and absorbed as much as I could. A chance meeting with Kayo O’Young in 1980 led to a year long apprenticeship where I learned the discipline of egg shell porcelain. In 1982 I took the job of ceramic technician at Central Technical School in Toronto, which led to teaching pottery in the continuing education program until I left in 1987. Throughout this time I maintained an independent studio practice. In 1991 I decided to pursue a career in health care, in which I worked until 2022. Pottery was always in my thoughts and in 2010 I started to build my home studio and returned to making pottery in 2012.

About the process

I work in high fired porcelain. The pieces are wheel thrown, then trimmed. I put the pots through a bisque firing to a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius/1800 degrees Fahrenheit. A thin layer of specialized glazes are then sprayed onto the surface of the pottery. The work is then put in the reduction kiln and fired to 1300 degrees Celsius/ 2350 degrees Fahrenheit.