Biography

ShapingLegsCropped

Shaping chair legs on a shaving horse.

After growing up in Missouri and receiving a BS degree in agriculture economics from the University of Missouri, Columbia, I travelled and lived around the western United States.  While living in Utah, I briefly explored the idea of a masters degree in wildlife biology at Utah State University, but realized school was not where I wanted to be.  Wilderness and the natural world have always been a passion of mine and I have constantly sought out exploring wild places.  In January 1994, that passion drew my wife, Anne, and I to Alaska and since then we have lived in Anchorage.

I have always learned better from hands-on work rather than sitting in a classroom and from doing rather than being a spectator.  As a result, I have very little formal training in woodworking and furniture building.  Growing up in the heart of the hardwoods stoked an interest in trees and woodworking and the more I shaped wood, the more I found it shaped me.  I found that my two passions can complement each other;  after spending time on wilderness trips, I bring back ideas that inspire my work with shapes, proportions and aesthetic.  That provides the drive and momentum behind the pieces I build.