I was born in Oklahoma, but not for long. My parents had a nomadic streak, and a distinct Baptist tilt.   We lived in 10 cities and 15 houses from Texas to Texas, to Texas, to Washington state and California by the time I reached high school.

Art was always a factor, and my native talents were recognized early. In high school I knew. Making art, and especially three dimensional art, was IT for me. IT still is.

The late sixties—the cultural revolution embodied in that time, the music, the expansive openness, the hope of real transformation—all of these, in concert with my Gypsy caravan childhood, are the formative context of my conceptual framework, and for my art and my vision—the bohemian streak is indelible.

But for 40 years, art was not at center stage. A growing family, jobs in newspaper, welding, and technical writing, a meandering but ultimately final detachment from my Baptist roots, a bachelors degree in theoretical linguistics at the University of Washington, and decades of tinkering with old VWs kept me busy, and fleshed out the context and skill set that now informs my work.

In 2002, I moved to San Luis Obispo with my life partner, Peggy Sonoda, to take up the life of a sculptor full time. My studio is in the hills east of Cambria, and we call it Windhook after the nearly constant  and variable breezes and the barn and tree swallows that ride that wind from March through August. 

From 2011 to 2014, I was the president of the Central Coast Sculptors’ Group at San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. I was also a board member at the Museum from 2013 to 2015, and was a primary instigator and driving force behind the Phantom Project, which was a loose coalition of artists who launched pop up gallery shows in vacant retail space around San Luis Obispo County in 2012. I have also participated in the selection of public art in the county, juried for the Paso Robles Art Association, and am focused on exposing the community to more art wherever possible.

In 2021, we began the  construction of a new house and 3 art studio spaces at Windhook—a big house that now has 3 generations and 11 warm chairs at dinner every night. In November of 2023, the construction was nearly complete and I was in the process of delivering work to the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden for their winter-long exhibit. As I began to load the truck I suddenly found myself in the greatest pain I had ever experienced, all focused in my left leg. My helper rushed me to the emergency room, and less than a week later I was being transported, minus my left leg below the knee, to a rehab hospital for Thanksgiving. The next week I was back in the hospital to take off the knee. The amputation was caused by a blood clot that baffled the doctors. I had no prehistory of vascular problems and extensive tests provided no clue to explain why it had happened. By the Spring of 2025, a year and a half after that trip to the ER, with excellent prosthetics, lots of physical therapy, and the amazing and relentless care and support of many people, but most of all, Peggy, my brother, and our kids, I’m in the new studios and I’m once again working on a public art commission, with other small commissions in the queue.

My primary attention is currently on public and semipublic figurative sculptural installations for natural, urban and commercial environments, but I’m always open to private commissions and planning to make them a bigger focus…let’s talk