Artist Profile

As an artist…. I have a passion and desire to create. I believe humans are at their best when creating art… be it a sketch, a painting, a photograph, a collage, a piece of music, a work of literature…. something that inspires. What inspires me about my art is the joy of making something from random pieces into a finished artwork… without directions or a how to manual…. no oversight from a governing body or rule book…. just sheer freedom to create. Taking a fragment of leather and shaping it to fit, to work with it’s surrounding… a piece of scrap that otherwise would have been discarded. Life tells us “you can’t put that there!”… “you can’t do that!”…. Art says, “I can, and I will.”….

My Process…

My art is abstract collage using different colors and textures of leather, creating a framed wall art. I like using keepsake or shadowbox frames for the depth they have. I am intrigued by different colors, shapes and textures and how they play in contrast and compliment each other. Most of my pieces start with a paper backing, and then a large piece, or several pieces of leather sheet arranged together as a background, from there I build layers using a variety of brilliant colors that grab the attention. All the leather pieces are hand cut and trimmed for desired fit and fixed in place. Sometimes I will incorporate polymer clay pieces that I have made, Swarovski crystals, or whatever else my imagination at the time decides to place in the work.

Bio….

I am originally from Southern California, a small town in the foothills of the grand San Bernardino mountains, and currently reside in the foothills of El Dorado County in Northern California. My hobbies and likes include woodworking, music, photography, jewelry making, auto racing, motorcycles… both dirt and street, skateboarding, cycling, basketball (yes, I am a Lakers fan!), baseball, hockey, hiking, enjoying the splendor of the mountains or being at the beach. I have worked for 42 years in healthcare as a Radiologic Technologist with the last 32 of those years as a Special Imaging Technologist.

John Muir once asked us, “…..what is your wilderness impact?” That says to me, what do you do in this world? What do you leave behind? Footprints on a trail that are washed away? The refuse piles from our consumerism? For me…..Art is a wonderful legacy.

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