Welcome! Use the pull-down menus for information about my animals and pieces!
I am a principal lecturer in the Department of Geology at the University of Maryland who is obsessed with combining my interests in the history of life, creative pottery, and the great ceramic traditions of the past. Please use the drop down menus above to access more information.
My professional research interest is in vertebrate evolution and paleontology, but I have also been a potter since college. The first time I saw a rhyton in a museum, I saw the way to combine my avocations. More recently I have experimented with pottery representations of ancient creatures in other historic styles. Whatever the ceramic tradition, I attempt to represent the animals accurately according to the most recent scholarship. Also, I show them at roughly life size, so no Tyrannosaurus rex or tiny fish! Enjoy!
John Merck