It all began for me at the tender age of three with a tube of mom's lipstick and her bedroom wall. I thought it was art; she thought it was a mess. I still remember the spanking I got for that. I moved on to mud pies in the yard. They looked better than they tasted. The mistake I made was using mom's pie pans; another spanking. That curbed my artistic endeavors for awhile.

I discovered plastic models when I was eight years old. I built a bunch of them over the next eight or nine years.  I built them well and managed to slice my thumbs open only once each during that time with my X-Acto knife.  But that wasn't art.

I did a fair amount of drawing (read that "doodling") in junior high and high school but I just wasn't able to put three dimensional objects on paper and have them look three dimensional. That wasn't art either.

It was in the late 1970's that I discovered brick patios. Here was something that I could do and be fairly artistic at the same time. I designed and installed brick patios for about four years. The tonnage of bricks I lifted over those four years just wore me out as I always worked alone. Great patios - just not art!

I moved on to the bicycle industry. It was great fun! Working in a shop, building new bikes, repairing bikes. And of course, riding a bike. Then I learned the art of bicycle frame building. I found building custom steel bicycle frames to be artistic, but once again, not art. 

Then I got into automobile restoration. Still not art!

Which brings me to jewelry. Finally - ART!!! I have been making jewelry with silver and gold for about a decade now. I apprenticed for the first two of those years with a silversmith/lapidary. I learned basic silversmithing techniques such as stamping, soldering and stone setting. I cut a few stones on my own but realized that I did not like lapidary work because it was messy and loud. Through discussions with other metalsmiths over the years, reading books and assorted publications and studying DVD's on metalsmithing techniques, I am now enjoying expressing my visions in three dimensional pieces, ranging from the simple to the simply wild. The exploration of my art work leads me to something new almost every day.

I have acquired quite a collection of beautiful semi-precious stones over the years and I frequently find that one or another of them will speak to me. Sometimes I don't hear them for a while but eventually I tune in and then the fun begins. I'm inspired by nature, architectural and industrial forms along with all things sci-fi. I take great delight in exploring three dimensional forms along with the interplay of positive and negative space. I like it that I can be serious and that I can be really silly.

So - you may have already stared at some or all of this jewelry. If you haven't, please indulge yourself. If you're interested in a piece, give me a call. I am happy to do custom work and always enjoy discussing your ideas with you.