Artist Statement

From clay sculptures as a young child, through free-form glass structures as a teen to backstrap weaving, which I was introduced to while living with the Kaqchikel Mayans in Guatemala, I have always had a love for art that can benot only seen, but that invites touch. My years as an art student, a carpenter, and then as an Occupational Therapist working with students with profound disabilities, (for whom I often designed and built adaptive devices), allowedme to continue to explore this passion.

Working with live edge boards (containing part of the outer edge of the tree) for the last two years, I’ve learned that within these functional sculptures are the stories of the lives of the trees and their relationship to the earth,including their eventual return to the forest floor to give life to others. Accentuated are the contributions from weather, soil, insects, fungus and birds. When I create my pieces the goal is always to let the wood determinethe design as much as possible...truly going with the grain.