ARTIST STATEMENT
My view, my way of experiencing life, has been remarkably consistent throughout my life. I have simply failed to give up on childhood and tried to experience things with the freshness and the inquisitiveness which have always been mine. As long as I can remember, my responses to things I see or experience in life are almost equally split between an intense excitement of the sensory experience and then a barrage of questions which leap into my mind involving “how”, “what”, “which”, “why”, etc. This split is a bit like I respond to the form and color and touch as a child would and then my scientific brain clicks in and thinks, “How does this do what it does?” “Why is that part that shape?” or “What happens when you move this part?”
The images in my work derive from biological sources, usually microscopic, and often have references to developmental biology. Some of my recent work is concerned with homeobox genetics, conserved DNA sequences and ideas concerning evolutionary developmental biology. Often I try to pull the viewer in toward the work for a closer look and to share in my amazement, my sensory appreciation of things and my intense curiosity about things.
I have been making things of metal since 1972. I studied jewelry making, enameling, blacksmithing, and sculpture at Penland, Arrowmont, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Touchstone Center for Crafts and Towson University where I completed my MFA in studio art with a concentration in Metalsmithing in December of 2002.
I was a full time research scientist at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland from 1971 until retiring in 2002. I taught enameling and metal related arts at Glen Echo Park for more than 20 years in addition to having been an adjunct instructor of Metalsmithing at Towson University and Montgomery College.
Prior to 1997 most of my metalwork consisted of jewelry and tools. After making a violin which I completed in 1994, I began to incorporate wood and other materials into my work. I have also made several knives. Since 1997 my work shifted towards more sculptural pieces, although I continue making jewelry and tools. Some of my work appears in Bobby Hansson’s book, The Fine Art of the Tin Can and Tim McCreight’s book, Metalsmith’s Book of Boxes and Lockets.
In addition to my career as a metal artist, I teach enameling and metalworking, and play softball, billiards and golf. I also play violin, mandolin, guitar and piano.
My view, my way of experiencing life, has been remarkably consistent throughout my life. I have simply failed to give up on childhood and tried to experience things with the freshness and the inquisitiveness which have always been mine. As long as I can remember, my responses to things I see or experience in life are almost equally split between an intense excitement of the sensory experience and then a barrage of questions which leap into my mind involving “how”, “what”, “which”, “why”, etc. This split is a bit like I respond to the form and color and touch as a child would and then my scientific brain clicks in and thinks, “How does this do what it does?” “Why is that part that shape?” or “What happens when you move this part?”
The images in my work derive from biological sources, usually microscopic, and often have references to developmental biology. Some of my recent work is concerned with homeobox genetics, conserved DNA sequences and ideas concerning evolutionary developmental biology. Often I try to pull the viewer in toward the work for a closer look and to share in my amazement, my sensory appreciation of things and my intense curiosity about things.
I have been making things of metal since 1972. I studied jewelry making, enameling, blacksmithing, and sculpture at Penland, Arrowmont, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Touchstone Center for Crafts and Towson University where I completed my MFA in studio art with a concentration in Metalsmithing in December of 2002.
I was a full time research scientist at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland from 1971 until retiring in 2002. I taught enameling and metal related arts at Glen Echo Park for more than 20 years in addition to having been an adjunct instructor of Metalsmithing at Towson University and Montgomery College.
Prior to 1997 most of my metalwork consisted of jewelry and tools. After making a violin which I completed in 1994, I began to incorporate wood and other materials into my work. I have also made several knives. Since 1997 my work shifted towards more sculptural pieces, although I continue making jewelry and tools. Some of my work appears in Bobby Hansson’s book, The Fine Art of the Tin Can and Tim McCreight’s book, Metalsmith’s Book of Boxes and Lockets.
In addition to my career as a metal artist, I teach enameling and metalworking, and play softball, billiards and golf. I also play violin, mandolin, guitar and piano.