As an artist, I manipulate form and content through my work, drawing inspiration from both historical and natural sources.My most recent works combine ancient Douglas fir or western red cedar with sculpted glass, found objects, and photography created using antique camera equipment.Through the combination of these varied media, I seek to express the ephemeral and sometimes fragmented quality of our human experience and our relationship to the natural world.
My iconography is inspired by my experiences within nature which began with childhood visits to my uncle’s farm in the Catskill Mountains.Objects relating to activities such as beekeeping and water witching reflect my nostalgia for the fading traditions and crafts I first experienced as a child.For the last dozen years, I have lived in the Pacific Northwest and have developed an affinity for the rugged beauty of its temperate rainforests including its world-class trout rivers.The waning arts of fly tying and bamboo rod making are two crafts I practice which also play an important role in my visual art.Hand crafting tools helps me feel a connection with the natural world and develop a sense of place within the landscape.In this way, the images and objects within my compositions reflect both a personal sense of creation and a longing for a time when a connection with nature was more a part of our daily existence and industry of survival.
Throughout my artistic life, I have been fortunate to work closely with highly accomplished artists including William Morris, Dale Chihuly, and Dan Dailey.Each of these individuals has contributed something to my technical development and appreciation for the formal elements of art making.Most recently, I have acted in a creative position with Waterford Crystal to infuse new artistic sensibilities into their traditional forms and techniques of glass blowing and cold working.As with any collaborative processes, my aesthetic sensibilities are consequently inspired by my appreciation for their artistry and its focus on visual clarity and elegant formal properties.
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