About

My artistic career has always been in tandem with, though shadowed by, my musical career. I see art and music as two sides to the same coin, coming from the same creative well and going to the same audience, just through a different medium. I just chose to acquire a college education in the one I thought I’d be better suited to make a living in. Just like music, art has been an inseparable part of my life for as long as I can remember, something I just did without question. It brings me back to a story my mom likes to remind me of. When I was quite young, I got into the box of crayons and drew all over the walls. When irritably asked why I was drawing on the walls, I matter of factly said “No paper.”

Though I wouldn’t consider myself a carpenter, working with wood has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember, instilled by family members with the same interest. I still use the lessons my carpenter father taught (and still is teaching) me, as well as the Colwood “The Detailer” woodburning unit my late great uncle gave me when I was in high school. Though, I’ve had to replace the pens and tips many times over the years.

I draw my inspiration from many different places, but I always come back to elements of the natural world and geometry. In a way this is what woodworkers do regardless of their subjects. Take a raw piece of nature, and form it into straight lines and geometric shapes. There’s something about wood and trees that fascinates me. Even without being shaped or manipulated by human hands, they’re works of art. The symmetry of the leaves, the uniqueness of grain patterns, the way each individual tree chooses to grow depending on its genetics and its environment, the poetics of seasonally dying and coming back to life year after year. Sometimes it feels wrong to be cutting down some of nature’s art to make my own on its skeletons. Since each unique piece of wood comes from an equally unique tree, so should be the art I make on it.

I love art for art’s sake, but I’m more drawn to practical art. The instruments I play on are works of art themselves, half of them made primarily out of wood. So I have an appreciation for well calibrated tools that are also pleasing, both practically and aesthetically. In the same way, I like my art to have a dual purpose. But don’t get me wrong, I still love making art for the sake of art. But if something must be seen, why not make it nice to look at?