About Me

Hey, I’m Tommy — a potter, nature lover, and someone who makes things with care. I once dreamed of playing professional baseball, but after enduring serious concussions and receiving a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, my plans evolved. Everyone follows their own path in life. For me, that path led to pottery — and that’s why I’m here. I’m happy doing this — shaping clay and making things that feel right.

Every piece I make is done by hand, with intention and feeling. I try to keep it honest, raw, and built to last. I care a lot about how something feels to hold. The weight of a mug. The shape of a jug’s face. The way the glaze settles or pulls on a teapot. I don’t rush things. Even the smallest stuff matters. Like how a teapot pours. If the spout dribbles or pulls wrong, it can mess up the pour or make the lid wobble and rattle. It’s not just about the lid. The weight of the lip and the contact points can shift during a full 90-degree tilt, and that changes how the handle feels, too. So I build in these small, sometimes invisible counterweights. Quiet adjustments that make a piece feel right when it’s actually used.

Most of those counterweights are for the faces. The big noses, the buck teeth, the single off-center cyclops eye, or whatever demon or gargoyle I decided to build that day. When a big nose sticks way out on one side, counterweights are necessary to keep it balanced and practical. These weights add to both design and function, showing attention to detail that often faces the wall and is meant to be overlooked.

I’ve had a dog in my life every single second, thanks to my amazing parents — Winston and Clover are with me now, and I still miss Molly and Toklat every day. When I turned 18, I finally got a cat after lots of back-and-forth — a quick trip to the shelter, and I came home with my best friend, Marley Bean Frank. Mar for short. I’ve had chickens twice and hope to be in a place to have them again soon, but I’ve always had that as a goal — to have land that could support chickens financially.

Part of what I’m doing with my pottery and this site is trying to give back and make a difference. I love the earth and want to help protect it from the growing climate crisis. I plan to donate at least 10% of every sale to environmental causes — like reforestation, clean water, wind and solar power, and ocean cleanup. But it doesn’t stop there. I’m also planning charity drives, special projects, and matching customer donations — because when you give, I want to give too.

This is my way of expressing what I can’t always say out loud, and hopefully doing some good in the process. Thanks for being here.