ARTIST STATEMENT/BIO 

“I was lucky to grow up on a farm south of Atalissa, Iowa, and have lived in West Liberty most my life. I Worked at Pioneer Hi Bred International for 41 years as Maintenance Leader, so I have always built and repaired things most of my life.

      It all started with building Grandfather clocks as we were in Amana one day and my mother saw a Grandfather Clock and said “I always wanted one, but now know it will never happen”.  That night I thought if someone else can do that I should be able to and drew it from photos; all you need is the length and width and make the rest fit. It took 3 months after work, and I gave it to her for Christmas. I found that to be a great way to relax and forget about your work day as your mind is somewhere else in a happy place.

      I have many of my ideas at night when I go to bed, so I keep a notepad and pen right by the bed. Then, whenever during the night I think of something, I write a short note while it is fresh in mind and then I can sleep better as I know it's taken care of and not in the back of my mind.

      There are many times I see something that is neat, like it could be a fence post that my dad and I set 60 years ago and I remember telling him the wire was too tight as I was afraid it would break. He told me it was all right and, yes, he was right. But one day I saw they had pulled the post and I thought I am going to take that home as someday I will have an idea for how to use it. A year or two later one night I knew what I was going to build; I set that post at an angle on our berm and built a rock sculpture on top of it. Whenever I look out the window, I see it and think back to that day.

  Sometimes it may just be a photo or an idea. I really do not like plans. At work if we were installing something and the plans had “AR” on them, the engineers did not know either. AR means “As Required” so build it yourself!

        Mostly I do this to relax and donate to good causes and gifts to special people. For example, one day there was a dog missing in Terrace Ridge and I went out looking for it, but instead I found a deer antler which I brought home. It laid on the workbench for a long time and then one day I knew where the deer antlers were going—to 5 nurses that I knew were working during Covid. So, I made small carved mushrooms out of the deer antlers with a leather strap. Those nurses now have them hanging on a mirror or on a keychain.  Yes, the little dog was found safe.”

ON DISPLAY

GALLERY HISTORY