About Me

Ah, the infamous bio page where others might bore you with the minutia of their lives and a litany of credentials. As a creative, I will take broader strokes instead.

I entered the world in Toledo, Ohio, many, many…many years ago, as part of a family filled with generations of artists and craftsmen. Thanks to genetics and a loving family, these skills and passions transferred to me. My early years were spent in Delaware. I think that to live so close to the ocean may have contributed to the free spirit in me. The scent of the sea never far and the ionic bounce of the air may be why I still seek to be close to water for its inspiration. Always building…sand castles at the shore, dams in the creek or forts in the backyard…I was destined to be a creative creature of some sort.

I studied art at The Ringling School of Art where I pursued painting and sculpture. My work tended toward clean, stylized renderings enhanced with bold, yet nuanced, color selections. While I enjoyed painting, I had a sense it was not exactly where I belonged as an artist. Realizing the necessity of gainful employment, I studied commercial and advertising art. And even though I had always enjoyed conceptualizing, the thought of designing cereal boxes, ad pages, and menus for the rest of my life wasn’t appealing. Don’t get me wrong, there is need for those endeavors, it just wasn’t my gig. I knew there had to be more for me, I wanted to create artworks of lasting beauty.

Then, one day it happened. I found my nirvana, my Holy Grail, my ideal medium, my artistic passion. By chance, I visited an exhibit of Tiffany’s work. This was my first exposure to stained glass, and I was hooked. The deep, vibrant colors with the light behind them left me in awe. The concepts of vivid, crystalline colors, defined borders, and distinct subject matter were already being reflected in my painting. Here was the final ingredient of my creative recipe—light.

With newfound direction I migrated north, attending the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, all the while searching for opportunities in the stained glass field. After several years working in other studios, I started my own business in east Tennessee. I have, over the years, studied with internationally recognized stained glass artists, always looking to improve my technical and aesthetic prowess and grow as an artist.

I have lived in and been inspired by the Tennessee mountains for over 30 years. The mountains have inspired my love of nature and growing up in the urban northeast inspired the love of clean, contemporary design. I’d like to think my artwork is the synthesis of the two influences….a gumbo, perhaps. Take a taste, if you dare!

On being a Parent:

“Raising children is one of the most trying, vexing, perplexing, joyful, raucous, tender, and satisfying enterprises we are presented with as adults. It’s an endeavor I take seriously …with a grain of salt, a sense of humor and a double bourbon on the rocks. When we see through their eyes we see far more than through our own alone.”