I have worked in home construction, fine woodworking, and carving for almost 50 years. In 1991, I was introduced to the Northwest Coast native style art through befriending and apprenticing with master carver Loren White. Studying and working with Loren for more than two decades has instilled a great passion and appreciation for this art form and the culture from which it was manifest. Over the years I have created a variety of masks, bowls, boxes, panels, spoons and ladles, model poles and figures, rattles, jewelry and the likes out of wood, bone, and mammoth ivory. It is the power of masks, though, and their universal appeal to communicate the expression of the natural and supernatural worlds and our human connection to them, that has captured the bulk of my interest and focus . My inspiration comes from the vast and diversified natural world of the great Pacific Northwest, where I have lived most of my life, with its abundance of wildlife and beauty in its forests, waters, skies, cosmos, and spiritual worlds hidden from our sight but not our senses – the same conditions that inspired the creation of the ancient masterpieces of the original carvers of the Northwest Coast from Washington State to Southeast Alaska.
I am a member of the Founding Artist Circle of the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Coast Art at the University of Washington in Seattle. My work can be seen and purchased at the Pacific Traditions Gallery in Port Townsend, WA , and at my studio in Port Orchard, Washington by appointment. Thank you for your interest.
