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Accomplishments
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ARTIST STATEMENT BIOGRAPHY AWARDS ORGANIZATIONS PUBLICATIONS SHOWS & GALLERIES TO CONTACT |
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| ARTIST STATEMENT |
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I derive my greatest satisfaction as an artist from the sheer joy of doing - of being
at one with the wood and releasing the beauty that is within. I love the challenge
of looking at and listening to a piece of wood and letting it reveal to me what
should happen with it. I have a tremendous sense of inner peace about my life and
my work, and hope that those who touch the pieces of art I have created can feel this
in the work itself.
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BIOGRAPHY |
In the early 1970s, I was a mechanical engineer with a manufacturing firm located in
Phoenix, Arizona. A typical senior executive, I was on the "fast track" for success
in the business world. But then, after a long period of reflection and listening to
my "inner voice", I decided to make a major change in my life. In 1975, I walked
away from my business career to pursue my growing interest in art.
While searching for a medium in which to express myself, I discovered desert
ironwood, a species of wood that is found only in the Senoran Desert of Arizona.
I began to make daily treks into the desert to locate chunks of this rare wood,
some of which had lain dead in the desert for between 200 and 1,500 years.
I was intrigued by this wood and began experimenting with techniques for
working in this difficult medium.
First, I adapted tools to allow me to polish ironwood like stone, revealing rich
wavy patterns of color ranging from a pale cream to a dark mahogany-like grain.
Next, I developed techniques for inlaying sterling silver and turquoise into the
wood. I have now spent twenty-five years developing and refining techniques for
working in this challenging medium.
This is a unique art form, requiring an unusual combination of mechanical ability,
artistic sensitivity, and, above all, patience. Trained as an engineer, self-taught
as an artist, I am fortunate because my work is now residing in homes and galleries
in more than eighty-six countries around the world. Even more so, however,
I am truly blessed to have found work that I love to do.
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| AWARDS |
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June 1999
Best of Show (Sculpture)
The 57th Street Art Fair - Chicago, IL
September 1999
Merit Award
Coweta Festival - Newman, GA
May 2000
Best of Show (Sculpture)
River Place Art Festival - Greenville, SC
June 2000
Wood Craftsmen Award
Silverhawk 5th Annual Fine Craft Exhibition
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| SELECT PUBLICATIONS |
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Fine Woodworking Magazine - August 1991
Rock and Gem Magazine - September 1991
Lapidary Journal - July, 1992
Guide to the Tokyo International Mineral Fair - 1994
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ORGANIZATIONS |
American Craft Association
Carolina Designer Craftsmen
Orange County Artist Guild
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CONTACT INFORMATION |
PO Box 467
Mebane, NC 27302
Studio Phone: (919) 563-5864 - Email
Main Web Site
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