I have always had a love affair with nature. I am endlessly fascinated with its intricacy and I find myself mesmerized with its detail. There is an entire world hidden in a forest floor, there exists layer upon layer of life on a beach...mud, sand, stone, shell, seaweed, tiny living organisms, each one with its own ornate story. There lie in the stratum of rock and earth archeological secrets to be uncovered, like the ancient civilizations from which we came. These cultures have left their imprints in stone and clay and bronze.

My fascination of working with metal is primarily due to its impenetrable quality, it exists for the ages. It can be melted and poured, or hammered and forged to create something that could be buried and then left to be uncovered centuries later. It is ancient and endless, it comes from the earth and goes back to it, it is timeless. Working with metal as a medium allows me to take something as fragile as a flower or a moth and preserve it for future interpretation. I can bring nature into my world by observing the bark of a tree and fabricating a copper "skin" in its likeness for a wall inside my home. For me it is as much the preservation of the initial object and the process through which it is created as it is about the finished piece itself.

Each sculpture begins with an interpretation of something I have observed in the outside world, for example, the repetition of pattern. The same ripple that is created by a drop of water onto a pond can be found on the bark of the beech tree. The gills of an Amanita mushroom cap mirror the deep white ridges of coral from the sea. The cactus Mammillaria mimics the urchins of the Mediterranean. The veins in a leaf are like those of a butterfly. There is a link to everything; it is like a great circle cycling with every season.
What I observe by eye or through the "macro" lens of my camera becomes the subject to be rendered. Macro work allows one to look at the world through a magnifying glass. Through my photography I attempt to catch the movement and essence of the object itself and then immortalize it through metal sculpture.

The creation of jewelry allows me to interpret my large sculpture on a small scale. Immediately it becomes intimate and personal. It is no less powerful than its larger counterpart and adorns the wrist as an expression of its bearer. It can be translated as a type of armor, relic or elegant adornment. Textured surfaces and organic forms meld together to become portable art, wearable sculpture.
I experience a fascination with texture and form. This is in part from my background studies of textiles as well as design. Each sculpture begins with a flat sheet, a rod or a found object of metal which is then heated and forged or hammered cold over an anvil, fuller and swage. The piece is then finished through welding, grinding and polishing. The piece may receive a patina to add yet another dimension.

I hope that through my work I am able to share some of nature’s secret world with my viewers. I believe that when nature sings its poetry it is worthwhile to take a moment and listen. May her wisdom never be underestimated and her beauty never forsaken.