My father was a voracious reader and self-educator. We had books on everything around the house. I was like 8 when I discovered the Provensens’ Iliad and Odyssey. Their somewhat classical-but-not-quite illustrations have stuck with me always.

Thanks to Pop’s subscription to Time Life books, I could pore over pictures of classical archaeology, of Pompeii and Greek cities. As I started to try to interpret ancient pots in my work, it seemed natural to give them a setting.

When I construct my little worlds of shards and broken pots, this is what I’m picturing (scroll down to second image). Someone made these pots. The ship transporting them sank, and the pots rested on the sea bed for thousands of years before they were seen again.