What first captured my attention about metals was the range of infinite possibilities. I could manipulate the material into any form I could conceive. Other materials could be added that would help me to realize my vision. Most importantly, I discovered that I need to work with a material that is technically and physically challenging. I am challenged by the risk of failure in the process. The technical and intellectual possibility that the work might not succeed must be present or I lose interest in the piece very quickly.

My work is about myth and fantasy, but it often also makes a statement addressing our society and the world around us. The vessel forms were originally inspired by work from lost cultures in museums, and by imagining the people who used each object and how it affected their lives. As I continued to make more work from this inspiration, each piece begins to take on a life of its own, telling a different story. These stories are influenced by readings about other cultures and by my own experiences. Hopefully the titles suggest only enough to start the viewer thinking, creating their own story. I see each vessel as a beginning point rather than an end product.

The knives are a physical challenge. They are technically difficult to make, but they are mostly about the myth of the knife. Everyone has heard stories of the sword that can cut through gun barrels, rock, or the mystic blade that brings great power to it’s owner. It is this fantasy that returns me to the knife form. My knives are all fully functional. They are hand forged to shape and then slowly ground and filed to their final form. Some of my smaller knives are in daily use, while most of the bigger ones are in the hands of collectors who believe in the myth and the fantasy of the blade. Once again the finished object is a point of departure to spark the viewers imagination.

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