Norris Dalton was born in Waupun, Wisconsin.  He has been a yeoman on diesel-powered submarines, a dispatcher for Green Giant, a concrete construction laborer, a number grabber and heaterman for the Soo Line Railroad, a salesperson at B. Altman, a security interviewer for Electric Boat, and an art teacher in the public schools.  He taught the Continuing Education Pottery Class at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville for 17 years.

Norris attended Central College, Pella, Iowa and graduated in Art from the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh where he studied ceramics under Paul Donhauser.  Later, he studied ceramics under Rudy Autio at the University of Montana - Missoula (MFA 1974), and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison with Bruce Breckenridge and Don Reitz.

Norris has been working in clay for over 35 years.  His current work incorporates the sgraffito technique with wheel-thrown functional and decorative work.  The pots are thrown on the potters wheel, trimmed, and several layers of white slip are applied with a brush.  Later, when the ware is leatherhard, Norris carves the intricate designs into the stiff clay with a loop tool.  When dry, the pots are fired to 1700 degrees F to make the pots porous.  After bisque firing, the pots are glazed with a brush - a slow process, requiring three coats of glaze in each area.  When a number of pots are ready for the glaze firing, they are placed in an electric-computerized kiln and fired to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.

The handbuilt ceramic artwork is made with minimal number of tools:  a knife, rolling pin, a canvas covered board, and Norris' hands.  Each level of Norris' handbuilt pieces is built from the bottom-up, by carefully forming and adding the decorative hand-formed applique to the form - a time-intensive technique.  After drying, the forms are bisque-fired, and then either dipped into a vat of glaze (for one color forms) or laboriously glazed with a brush to achieve the combination of bright colors on a single piece.  The pots are then fired in either a gas reduction kiln or an electric kiln, depending on the required temperature of the glazes used.

Norris' work has been included in "Ceramics USA," Denton, TX (1996); "The San Angelo National Ceramics Competition," San Angelo, TX (1995, 2000); "The National Whimsical Drinking Cup Competition," Earth Art Works, Los Angeles, CA (1999); and "The Monarch National Ceramics Competition," Kennedy-Douglas Center for the Arts, Florence, AL (1997).  His work has also been published in Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, Works, a publication of the Arkansas Arts Center, The Studio Potter By Paul Denhauser, and The Ceramics Design Book (Lark Publishers).