I am commonly referred to as an American folk artist, although I feel most comfortable with the term “self-taught”. My art work is entirely carved in white pine and then painted with acrylics. Each piece is a unique handmade original piece of art. I am untaught and untrained as a visual artist. I learned a number of useful skills by building my own house, and during my work in the trades as a signpainter and carpenter.

I was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania in 1950. I have lived in Ithaca, New York ever since I graduated from Cornell '72 with a major in creative writing. While at Cornell, I wanted to be a writer. One year after graduating my father gave me a painted wood carving he had made of me at the farm where I grew up. I soon started to make carvings as well. Eventually I stopped writing and moved entirely to making my carved visual stories. My subject matter usually is of places and feelings that are important to me, and I think of my artwork as a “picture diary”.

My woodcarved and painted folk art pictures are entirely carved on rough cut white pine boards that are air-dried in the crawl space beneath the front porch to my house. I start with a rough cut board and carve down to create shapes. I use no glued on pieces. A sliding batten is fastened on the back of the carving to prevent warping or cupping. Most of my pieces are carved on four quarter (1” thick) stock. I then paint the carving with acrylics, sealing it front and back (again to prevent warping) with an acrylic varnish. An inner gold-leafed frame completes the look of each piece. Some of my most recent pieces include copper and buttons.