About The Artist

                                     

                                        I have lived in the Midwest most of my life. In the                          
                                      winter it is terribly cold, dirty and depressing. In the                        
                                      summer it is miserably sticky and hot. Spring and fall                   
                                      are the only chances for regaining balance and a                          
                                      sense of rebirth.
                      
                                        When each year is spent in one extreme and then                      
                                      another, your thoughts and emotions are left to ride the same
roller coaster. Often you live in a dark, nostalgic state remembering both good and
bad about your past and desperately seeking a truth about your future. This state is
exactly where I draw inspiration for my work. My work becomes a way for me to sort
out my emotions while creating a piece of imagery that hopefully causes the viewer
to take notice of their own.

Feeling is an important part of art. If you can say you felt something about a piece of
art, even if it is disgust, the artist has done their job. For me, art should not be about  
status or conforming to what the majority of the population want to see. Art should
be about  passion. If you are putting your true self into your work, it won't matter who
likes or dislikes what you have created. It makes it that much more meaningful
when someone does admire and understand your work.

I collect a variety of antique dolls, books, paper, toys, hardware and boxes to be
used as materials for assemblage sculptures. Assembling such materials,
especially in their tattered, crumbly and fragile state can be very difficult. However, I
cannot bring myself to use anything but these crude items, as the story they
themselves carry adds such depth and meaning to my own.

Expanding my use of materials and experimenting with assemblage techniques, I
am always striving to do better. Fine tuning your craft is what the art process is.