About who I am and what inspires my work

I had the opportunity to travel abroad and these are the years that would really fuel the fire to create. My time in Europe introduced me to medieval architecture that still defy time. Different cultures on the same continent through time expressing itself with art, rituals, celebrations. The caves in the Pyrenees Mountains that separate Spain and France hold some of the most awe inspiring images I have seen to date. There, deep in the earth are extraordinary paintings of all the animals that roamed the surface 35,000 years ago and that were vital to the survival of our earliest ancestors. They dared to venture into the unknown with pigments from found minerals and a small fat filled stone bowl that burned for light. Many of these images are large, in difficult locations and the darkness and silence are incomprehensible. Yet they remained for long periods painting bison, horses, aurochs, red deer and so much more. They would return time and time again. The difficulty in accessing these caves gave me the sense that this work was spiritual, necessary for their continued existence.

My travels to Central and South America introduced me to a very different ancient culture. The pyramids and temples are common architectural structures throughout the world including Mesoamerica. The art here however, seemed to me more brutal, passionate and yet beautiful within its cultural context. These cultures were also compelled to express their beliefs to build sense of unity through their art and architecture.

New archeological discoveries substantiate the deep unquestionable and unrelenting drive to create. No matter the time or place in the history of humans, we were and still are compelled to speak a visual language, one that any human from any culture could, on some level, relate to and even understand the intended meaning or acquire meaning that is unique to the viewer. Art is a language that bridges time and cultures. We have more in common than we have differences.

I have been living and creating for several decades now in a small home and studio tucked away in the wilderness of Southern Oregon. I have done my share of art shows throughout the Pacific Northwest and a dozen galleries have sold my work in the past. I have done several commissions for private homes. My work will no doubt evolve, but will always be inspired by the natural world and our presence on it. Currently we are having a heavy impact on the natural world and it is my hope the arts will be the voice that reminds us how vital the natural world is to our survival and well being. Peace be with you and thank you.

I have always been part of the wild, feeling more at home in the back country than anywhere I have traveled or lived. I grew up with a backpack as my home during the summers in Northern California where the Trinity and Marble Mountain ranges were my backyard.

Military duty took me to the East Coast where I backpacked the Appalachians and Smokey Mountains. These ranges, though very different than the steep rocky peaks of home are stunning. Here I discovered abandoned homesteads marked by a lone stone chimney rising up from a field of daffodils or an old foundation outlining a space where lives began and ended.

The Native Americans and their ancestors left pictographs and petroglyphs throughout this continent telling those who followed that they were here, have always been here. I was beginning to become intrigued by the remnants of our presence on this planet. Living and leaving as we were effected by changes. We left images of what was important to us at the time.