I am a sculptor residing in Terre Haute, Indiana. I work out of my backyard studio on N.9th Street not far from Indiana State University. The same location that my wife Gemma and I have lived since purchasing our house in 2007. I received my Bachelor of Arts from Southern Illinois University from my hometown of Carbondale, Il. in 1984.  My emphasis at that time was solely drawing and painting.  In 1988 with a recently acquired background in welding and fabrication obtained at a nearby trailer plant (Transcraft, Anna, IL) I directed my energies towards sculpture. I worked the first two years of my sculpture career on my parents patio. It was a rich, fruitful and rewarding period. In 1990 I moved to Terre Haute in pursuit of a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Indiana State University with a major emphasis being sculpture and minor in painting. In 1995 I earned my Master of Fine Arts.

At the core of my work is my love of drawing. Not finished refined drawing as works of art. But loose, exploratory, ever changing, evolving thumbnail sketches. Sketches that evolve ideas through 10's if not 100's of possibilities. Drawing: Putting marks on paper, creating imagery where none existed before, evolving idea(s) through visual thought processes. What is sculpture but drawing in space. Drawing in the 3rd dimension. The processes are not all that unlike. Sculpture being an extension of drawing. Is this mark true? Does the arrangement of forms hold more meaning than any one given form?  Thinking visual, industrial, pragmatic and aesthetics all within the same processes.  Evolving idea(s) as tactile manifestation of line, shape, form and color.  Visual questions that become interesting puzzles:  Will this sketch lead to another? And another?  Will it lead to a finished art drawing?  Maybe progress to a scaled model or two?  Will this little sketch be the one that manifest itself directly into a life sized sculpture?  Will the actual manifestation of the idea hold greater meaning than the first kernel of a sketch?  Or was the universe contained within the sketch to begin with?  If the sculpture is realized will it be cherished?  All these questions become interesting mental puzzles greater than, "Where did I leave my car keys?  Did I pay the phone bill?"  Mundane questions one has to ask themselves in life.  MY ART IS A DESIRE TO SOAR PAST THE MUNDANE. 

Another great motivating factor within my work is my adoration for industrial processes. Welding, grinding, polishing, drilling, sanding, cutting, measuring, clamping, hammering, painting more sanding...... All these things I enjoy.  Thinking through pragmatic concerns and acting upon them.  The rich tactile nature of the process.  The loud blinding strike of the weldor's arc as I weld a bead.  Dimes lined in a row if the bead is true.  Sending giant dancing shadow figures upon the studio walls. These things I cherish.  Don't get me wrong however. Many things in a metal shop are hard fought processes.  But to push through and occasionally glide down on the other side. What better reason to pedal a bicycle to the top of a hill but to fly down the other side. Wanting to do it again and again.