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What I do:
I weld. I braze. I solder, rivet, bolt and screw. I heat up metal and bend it. I grind it and
shape it. I look for a new life for cast off, old, used up pieces and parts of just about anything.
Sometimes I incorporate metal other than steel, like copper or brass. Sometimes I use stone, glass, or feathers.
Sometimes (rarely) I use new metal.
Mostly, I want someone to look at a piece of my art and identify with it in some way. To want to make it a part
of their life, garden, or home.
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| Meerkat Lookout SOLD |
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Who I am:
I'm a social worker by education and practice. For the past 19 years I've directed a psychosocial rehabilitation program
for adults with mental illness. I'm also a farmer...again. I grew up on a family dairy farm, and spent the better
part of my teenage years arranging for my exodus from the farming life. I yearned to travel, and did so. I did
a whirlwind European tour in 1973.. And in the summer of 1974 travelled the midwest and western states with a theater
troupe. After 5 years of college at The University of Michigan and Michigan State University I landed a great experience
at Starr Commonwealth Schools, working with adjudicated youth. After a couple of years, I still had the wanderlust,
so I took off for the west with my camping gear and spent the summer of 1981 exploring the west and south, but ended up back
in Michigan. Then came the opportunity of a lifetime! Why not move to Saudi Arabia? I spent 4 years living
and working in Saudi Arabia, from 1981 to 1985. This gave me the opportunity to explore a great many new and wonderful
places around the world (I had great travel benefits). After finishing my contract in 1985, I headed
east with my backpack. The couple of months planned for poking through a few countries before returning
to the United States and the corporate life wasn't to be. After three years of travelling and exploring our wonderful
and fascinating world, I had circumnavigated the globe, ditched any half-baked ambitions to spend my life trussed
up in a shirt and tie, and entered graduate school to become a social worker. After graduating from Western Michigan
University with a Masters of Social Work degree, I'm still a social worker.
Yet, I find myself back on a farm. My wife, Judi, and I have raised llamas for the past 17 years. That's
in addition to my full-time social work career. Our little 40 acre farm is home to 23 llamas, 1 Peruvian horse, 4
dogs: 3 Yorkies, and a rescued Greyhound (plus occasional litters of Yorkie pups). Plus 5 cats (well, the number
of cats keeps changing depending on how many are dropped off or that we're trying to rescue).
Much of what I incorporate in my art has a reference to current or past farm life, some of the interesting places I've
been, and the unique personalities of animals, or people I've met.
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| Pipewrench Stool SOLD |
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