When it began...

I decided to get this show on the road around June, 2009. I had been out of school about one year and I decided it was time to get on with my life.

Living in the real world has been pretty fantastic, I started doing construction for the potter Rob Sutherland. In exchange for 20 hours a week of work he gave me a studio to work in and a room to live in. But perhaps I should give some back story first as to how I got connected to Rob.

In the Summer of 2003 I attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School of Information Technology(PGSIT) in Philadelphia. Because of it I learned a little bit about computer graphics and decided to pursue that through college. With this arts background I applied to work at PGSIT for something to do over the summer and to support such a fantastic program. Since 2005 I have been working there every summer and beginning to learn more and more about Philadelphia. Just before the summer of 2006 (During my second year in school) I asked my ceramic professors if they knew anyone living in Philadephia who might be willing to show me their studios and talk about their work. My one professor, Julia Galloway, suggested that I look into Neil Patterson and Sandi Peirantozzi and Rob Sutherland. At that time Neil and Sandi were out of town and I couldn't catch up with them. However, Rob was around, so that summer I went over to his studio one day and just talked to him for about an hour. I saw him working in his studio and I learned what he was up to with life. I also learned that he recently bought three properties and he was in the middle of fixing them up.

The following year I knew I would be back in Philadelphia and I knew I would have some free time during the days (I only needed to be available for PGSIT from 4PM - Midnight). I called up Rob and asked if he would be willing to do a work trade situation for some studio time. Since July is a down time for him, he said we could try it out and see how it goes. I would work one day and have studio time the next this arrangement worked out pretty well: I began learning construction and had time to make pots while his properties improved, albeit slowly.

In January or February of 2008 Rob called me up and said one of his tenants was moving out. He asked if I might be interested in doing work trade for my apartment and since I wasn't sure of what else to do, I took him up on the offer.

Taking a year off after college is probably one of the best things I have ever done in my life. I now know that I can make it on my own, it let me relax after an intense senior year at school and it gave me the opportunity to meet many great people. The time let me decide where I really want to go in life and I have just recently become truly excited about making work again.

And now, knowing what I want to do, I have begun putting all the pieces in order to make this trip happen.