I've always felt a connection to place. When I think back on times that have been special to me, there's always a specific place associated with these moments. Almost like a flip book of quick glimpses of all I've experienced, these places have created what is my home, as in the definition of home as "a place where something flourishes, is most typically found, or from which it originates." Every place is made special by a person, people, or experience; basically, the place tells a story of me.

And it's not just places I've grown up or lived in, but also new places I come across as I travel. I'm always hesitant to share pictures from trips I've taken because they all seem to be of the exteriors of old buildings, old doors, windows, or even the floors where I've stood which would probably bore most. But to me, they're visual reminders of that place, how I felt at that moment, the conversation I was having, even the sounds around me. These little parts of the bigger whole--the doors, the windows, the walls, the floors--all help tell the history and story of that place.

The "h" in h.made doesn't just mean "Hudson," (which is why it's not a capital H). h.made also means homemade, handmade, even history made, and the clay tiles that I make are a way I can share stories. There's a quote from a Garden & Gun article (May 2016) that completely resonates with me, and the writer says, "It's such a southern thing to wretch beauty out of age, to resuscitate ruin, to long for pretty like oxygen, and to want to share that pretty with as many people as possible." If I knew the author of this article, I would ask them if they would loan me this quote to be my mission statement! Basically, I have these images of places, they tell my story, I need to make and paint them, and I want to share them with you.

Exterior wall of Canterbury Cathedral, June 2016