My family left Alcoa, Tennessee and moved to Arizona just as I started high school. I began working in ceramics at that time and I continued this through college. I loved the “magic” of the potter’s wheel; at the slightest touch, the clay seemed to shape itself into whatever form I imagined. At twenty-two, I moved to Los Angeles and worked for a short time as an artist at an animation studio in Santa Monica, before moving to the San Joaquin Valley where I graduated from Fresno Pacific University. I returned to Arizona in 1995, after completing a Master’s Degree in Washington D.C. and for a short time taught computer art and animation at Cad Institute in Tempe. Following that, I taught classes in World Religions and Critical Reading at Mesa Community College for sixteen years.

Shortly after returning to Arizona, I became fascinated with Functional Art. I designed some occasional tables and joined The Furniture Society. Then I began taking classes in Neon Sculpture and Structural Steel at ASU under professor James White. Jim always said: “No one starts out to be a sculptor. They try everything else and one day, they kind of fall into it,” and that’s just what happened. At the same time, I began taking classes in Structural Metal Sculpture. Shortly after I began classes, Jim picked up an acetylene torch, heated a steel rod and bent it like putty. “Steel is just like clay,” he said, “all you have to do is heat it up a little.” My jaw fell. I was hooked! I loved working in ceramics but it had never dawned on me that steel could be turned into putty with a little heat. At that moment steel became my favorite medium. Though I took Neon Sculpture time after time over the years, nothing ever grabbed me like steel. At some point, during this time I built a lamp out of steel. Then I built another and another. Although there are similar stylistic elements in my work, each lamp is different. So, I just kept on building lamps – a fusion of light and shades!

Additionally, I’ve also written a book, The Fundamentals of Mixology about the art of signature cocktail creation. I’m a long-time resident of Mesa and my focus continues to be on Functional Sculpture and Art Furniture. at present, I’m engaged in creating Art Lamps full time.

Much of my work revolves around the juxtaposition and combination of opposites; Art Furniture, by its very nature is like that. The curvature of organic flow that merges into the structured lines of geometrical figures. The rigid structure of a steel lamp, outfitted with the soft and flexible fabric of a shade often becomes an exercise in caprice that results in the whimsical. This is my art.

The lure of experimenting with a new idea! The juxtaposition of opposites fascinates me – harmonizing patterns of organic flow against structured geometric forms