Since graduation from the college of architecture at The Illinois Institute of Technology, I have tried my hands at several various crafts. I started with painting, actually during my time in the university. Once I entered the working world, I felt that I needed to add to the design that occured largely on the computer at work, and work with my hands building furniture. My need for a constantly running project led me to begin rebuilding bikes.

My paintings are, for me, a meditative act that results in images that I only come to recognize when the work is complete. The planning stage generally only goes as far as deciding the dominant color and the proportions or arrangement of the canvas or canvases. The specific image mutates and twists and changes as easily as my emotions until it reaches the point that I allow it to freeze in time.

My furniture is one of my hobbies that receives little physical action, but I am constantly sketching the next idea. I have only completed a handful of projects, but several are in the making, and hopefully I can add to my completed list soon. I work primarily in wood, and am currently working on a project built from an ash tree taken down after being infected by the parasite the emerald ash borer. If this tree was allowed to stand, the insect would be free to infect and kill more trees. The consciousness of using this wood is inspiring to me, as I face the dichotomy of wishing to work with wood and its inherant warmth and beauty, but also dread the notion of taking down an integral part of our ecosystem.

Lastly, (for now) I rebuild bikes. I love the simplicity and beauty of bicycle as machine, but I also enjoy the idea that rebuilding the bike is a symbol of sustainability and social and environmental responsibility. By rebuilding a bike, I am not only keeping that bike from either being destroyed or entering the landfill but I am also re-creating a new health-friendly and gas-free means of transportation. I have found the patience to strip a frame down, repaint, and totally rebuild it with freshly polished parts, and realized that the bikes I create take on a new life.