ARTIST STATEMENT

Now, isn't imagination a precious thing? It peoples the earth with all manner of wonders, strange beasts and birds, angels, cherubim and seraphim. And it has to be exercised. No child should be permitted to grow up without exercise for imagination. It enriches life for him. It makes things wonderful and beautiful.   –Mark Twain, speech in Elmira, April 1907

For as long as I can remember, my imagination has been a constant companion.  Some of my most cherished childhood memories are of the times I spent in the garden or the garage creating things out of the detritus I found buried there.  Odds and ends could come alive, just like the monster drawings and stories that filled my second grade notebook. These might merely have been the curious creations of a boy who also liked to collect bugs and blow things up, but thanks to the encouragement I received from my parents and teachers, my earliest aspirations did not involve being a biologist or a fireman, but an artist.  As I grew and learned more about myself and the world I was amazed to discover the potential for communicating with art and using my own experiences to draw inspiration from. 

These same possibilities, for communication and understanding, continue to inspire me, and while new mediums, such as pen and pencil and kiln-formed glass, have replaced the crayons and junk of my youth, I still attempt to create with the same abandon.  At heart I think I am still that same kid searching for something more out of what seems to be ordinary.  With inspiration from sources such as urban design and the northwest landscape I draw and build and create in the hope of inspiring the imagination of others.