I was born in Hawaii, when it was still a Territory of the United States. After living a barefoot existence for nine years, our family moved to England, and then to Spain. Not until High School did I reside on the mainland, when I attended High School in Weston, Massachusetts and then college at The College of Charleston in South Carolina.

I spent several years in Michigan, while my fiance completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees. During that time, I came to feel that academia would not offer me a proper creative outlet. And I yearned to do something with my hands. I picked up welding skills at the local community college, and as a pipe welder, I worked in Michigan, Texas, and Wyoming, all the while waiting for Ellie to finish Veterinary School at Michigan State. We married a short time after her graduation and moved out to Idaho. After a couple of years with goats, sheep, chickens, cats and dogs for company (did I say I married a Vet?!), we moved to Northern California to start a family. I worked as a welder, overhauling nuclear submarines. After a dozen years, the shipyard closed, and I decided it was time to take a new direction.

I had achieved one aim, which was to work with my hands. But the work I had found did not allow me a creative outlet. Architecture presented certain attractions, but this discipline requires an element of delayed gratification which I could not abide. Furniture-making offered a logical alternative.

I was extremely fortunate to be accepted into the prestigious College of the Redwoods woodworking program, under the tutelage of James Krenov. Jim is a renowned cabinetmaker, educator, and author, whose books are still in print. Although now retired, he continues to be a major influence in contemporary woodworking, alongside such luminaries, past and present, as Sam Maloof, George Nakashima, Wharton Esherick, and Art Carpenter. Under his guidance, and that of a band of equally gifted associates, I completed two years of intensive study. I worked alongside talented individuals from this country, as well as from Finland, Israel, England, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Germany.

At the beginning of the new millennium, I began to practice my craft. In addition to commissioned work, I have pieces in select galleries in Northern California, including The Highlight Gallery (Mendocino), Gallery M (Half Moon Bay) and Dovetail Gallery (Healdsburg).