Biography

My art combines realistic and abstract images to create art with meaning. I believe you must be able to draw or carve realistic images before you can abstract them. In my drawings, I combine objects in different ways to make the piece more interesting. I start with objects from a still life or from sketches I have done for a sculpture. I then place the objects around the page in a manner that creates a collage effect. This enables me to use realistic images to create an abstract piece. Because I am color blind, many of my drawings may use color in a very different way than you are used to seeing them. This is not necessarily a planned effect, but always a welcome surprise. My sculpture is where I have the most fun. I enjoy viewing the curved pieces of many of the modern artists and use similar curviture in my work. Even when doing the human figure, I like to put some abstract element in the piece to provoke thought. This combination of realistic and abstract defines my style.

I was born and raised in Elk Grove Village, IL, a suburb of Chicago. I have always had a love for art. My family has a history of creativity, so it became part of my life at a young age. While my mother was very instrumental with my drawing, I was also fortunate to have a grandfather who carved and a father who made beautiful furniture in wood. My grandfather taught me to carve at age 8, and my father taught me the basics of woodworking at a young age as well. Because of this background, I have always put an emphasis on woodcarving.
While in high school, I had the opportunity to take art classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. This experience changed the direction of my work. I had been interested in art since I could remember, but while at the Art Institute, I decided that I wanted to make art my career.
On a visit to Bellarmine College in Louisville, KY, I was fortunate enough to go to the home studio of Bob Lockhart. I fell in love with his work and decided that Bellarmine was for me.
I graduated from Bellarmine with a degree in Fine Art in December of 1989. While in school I ventured into ceramics, and I also did some stone sculpture, but I still came back to woodcarving. Even now, while I have continued to expand the mediums in which I work, my favorite is still three-dimensional woodcarving.