Rescued From The Scrap Heap – Reborn Into Beauty I am an Iowa artisan working by day in new home construction and remodeling. My job sites are filled with a myriad of common, yet uncommon materials that continually spark my imagination and wiggle their way into my fine artworks. Designing and building homes capture a desire for large-scale creativity, but the ever-flowing variety of construction waste products intrigues my bold color-loving side. My two artistic disciplines are intertwined and I have found that I can barely do one without the other. Walking the sites is part of my process. I regularly scavenge through the tossed materials to discover unused treasures which frequently become my next inspirational launching pad. I have generated a collection of random pieces of raw wood, beams, stone, tile, paper, plastic and metals that I can process with abandon because I know there will always be more discarded. Homebuilding requires a subtle elegance and simplicity in product selection, textures and colors as well as precision in execution and craftsmanship. Due to these limitations, my artistry tends to run in the polar opposite direction with bold colors, wild shapes and intentional imperfections.
 

Foil, painting and mixed media work of all sizes is my sketchbook of sorts as I continually prepare for larger-scale works yet to come. Preplanning is confining, but necessary. Exploration is glorious and where my work comes alive!