I make botanical tiles and pottery in a rennovated 1890s warehouse in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, not far from Charlottesville.  I cut each tile by hand with a copper cutter, then impress it with a botanical specimen gathered from the woods and streamsides near my home, leaving a fossil-like imprint in the clay.  The geometric point pattern around the edges of my tiles is hand pressed one point at a time to give the tiles an Arts and Crafts era feel.  I come from a family of botanists, land conservationists and ornithologists, and I can't help being enthralled by the graphic possibilities of leaves, ferns, branches, and mosses.  I also find the botanical nature of my work a great excuse to go hiking in the woods almost every day.