Artist Statement:  Joel's ceramic art hearkens back to the spring of 1971, when he met Becky Kobos, who would become his wife, while both were students in the pottery studio at the University of Illinois in Urbana. Joel was a wheel-thrower and free-hand glass blower, while Becky preferred hand-building ceramics.

After careers in public school teaching in Iowa, Joel as a reading teacher/librarian and Becky in art, they now combine their talents by collaborating in the creation of functional and decorative stoneware and raku pottery in the studio they share. While Becky is a long time fiber artist who spins, weaves, and dyes fabric using a variety of techniques including collage and quilting, she contributes surface design details to many of the ceramic forms Joel creates, making each piece truly on-of-a-kind.