What I Do At My Bench

At this stage in my career, I am only concerned with achieving something beautiful. Over the years, I have developed certain primary motifs; design forms familiar to me which serve as markers of development in the art form. The motifs may be repeated; the individual designs never. As a body, my work represents the natural flow of my development, piece by piece; their execution expresses the growth I have experienced.

The nicest thing about spending a little over 47 years developing skills in Repousse and Chasing is having done so. Forty-seven years of experience grants a felicity of access to that single invisible point where the tool meets the metal. My work is about the perfection of an individual strike among thousands to come or thousands before in a moment of unnoticeable time.

Work from my bench represents a culminating moment; time, ability, materials and my artistic sense of their coming together and being “done.” To my eye, every piece I finish expresses within it a moment of perfect beauty. Each tool strike through hours of work, felicity of hand, the metal’s beautiful stringent rules flow through my intention. Any piece I consider done has its point of beauty. Sometimes larger, sometimes smaller, but always complete and unique.