Biography

After sculpting in wood and stone, I started to experiment with steel in the late 1960's. The early experiments were of a rather simple nature because of my limited knowledge of welding. As time progressed and I'd taken many welding and blacksmithing courses I felt that as a sculptor I had found my favourite media.

Although I occasionally still like to carve in wood, steel is the medium in which I feel I can express myself the best. It lends itself to large and small shapes, can be textured or finished in a wide variety of ways and can be shaped into any desired form.

I experimented with concepts such as sky drawing (large shapes that due to the flexibility of steel), move in the wind as well as kinetic sculptures and shapes that given the strength of steel can be off balance.

I find that there is a certain presence in steel objects that is hard to describe. I think it is the strong and indestructible nature of the material that gives it a feeling of un-deniable presence. This presence can be softened somewhat by texturing the material.

After my early, mainly experimental period, inspiration came from my surroundings. Rapid urban development with its large suburbs swallowed up most of the smaller farms near the Victoria B.C. area. This was the inspiration for a piece called Tightrope Walker and eventually the reason I had to leave the area. My studio space and later the building that housed my gallery fell prey to urban development. My wife and I decided to look for a place where we could find temporary jobs in order to build a house and a studio. We found jobs in Historic Barkerville and built a house and studio on the Bowron River.

Living there, on the edge of the wilderness changed my outlook on life. I became intimately aware of the beauty, inter dependence and sometimes-raw aspects of nature, as well as the devastation and waste caused by modern logging. Environmental issues became the main source of inspiration for my sculptures. I also started to incorporate materials such as wood, rope, plexiglass etc. into my sculptures. But living 120 km from the nearest supply center without electric or telephone service became too much of an obstacle in the pursuit of our careers.

We decided to sell and move closer to Quesnel. This move marked the end of being an environmental activist to a social activist and I joined the Council of Canadians. The human misery and environmental damage caused by the corporate sector became the source of inspiration for the next period.

While walking along the banks of the Cottonwood River, I saw a very remarkable and beautiful rock. When I picked it up I realized it must be a billion years old. It was the source for a sculpture called Ode to a Rock. Since then I have used natural rocks in many of my sculptures. Rocks are used as symbols of burden, in what I call my "human observation period".

At present I am creating sculptures that bring some happiness, in a world that seems to be more and more deprived of joy. I am also experimenting with the concept of peaceful/spiritual resting places in parks and along highway stops. These places should flow with the surroundings and could be built out of wood, stone, natural rock, steel or a combination of all these materials.

There is also a very possible return to some earlier concepts like creating large forms I call "sky drawings", sculptures that move in the wind.