I got my first tool, a pocket knife, for Christmas when I was nine. Within hours I was converting scraps of wood into swords and daggers and I've been carving and building stuff ever since. When the time came to choose a career, my best local option was a trade school program aimed at producing cabinet makers for the plywood casework industry. While working in this industry in the mid-seventies I acquired the tools, ideas, and work ethic to become a self-employed furniture maker.
In the mid-eighties I experienced a serious creative awakening. I fed this by spending time in the Baulines Craft Guild apprenticeship program with two of the leading makers in the San Francisco area. Stuart Welsh taught me hand work and that if I can't draw it I probably can't build it. Art Carpenter taught me to work around my short-comings as a joiner by using straight forward, mechanical joinery and by building in a fudge factor. In this era I was also introduced to Judy McKie and her lively menagerie of animal furniture.
I spent most of the decade developing my skills and refining my aesthetic. In 1993 The Saskatchewan Arts Board gave me a grant to explore the use of animal figures in furniture. In six months I produced 10 pieces. These developed the style that I use today - simple, solid structures featuring sensual, humorous animal forms.
Working on my own I tend to work in series. Unfortunately this can lead to getting stuck in a rut. Therefore I really enjoy working with clients on commission pieces. Generally we start from an animal anecdote from their personal history. This gets me working with images I might not have come up with on my own. My narrative chairs have been particularly successful. Not only have I explored some very strong images, my clients have gained a great indulgence, a personal throne.
Though I live out here on the far side of nowhere I keep in touch with the wider world through the Emma Lake Collaborative Workshops and the Furniture Society. My work is available in half a dozen fine galleries across North America.
While I occasionally play with painted surfaces if I feel the image needs them, my first love and primary focus is naturally finished wood. Using the warmth and beauty of a fine piece of wood is like having the Creator collaborate on a piece with me.