My hand-built ceramic work is made with porcelain and stoneware clay—sometimes mixed, sometimes juxtaposed. Coiling is my favorite method; I create surface textures as I join the coils and build up the forms. Most of my pieces are unglazed, fired in a reducing atmosphere to cone 10. I started throwing and hand-building at the Hyde Park Art Center in 2000 and continued there until 2018; since then, I've used the studios at Lillstreet Art Center and Bridgeport Art Center. I previously had done figure sculpture in clay at the Koh-Varilla Guild, a studio on the North Side of Chicago.

Many of the pieces shown on this site are for sale. If you'd like to see my work in person or just want to say hello, please contact me at jltrestrail@gmail.com. Thanks!