Artist Profile

I have been a woodturner, wood and mixed media artist, and sculptor for the past nine years.  After a 34-year career as an academic and practicing neurologist, I spent a year learning woodworking and boatbuilding at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, WA in 2010.  Before and after that time, I took additional courses at Snow Farm in MA, The John Campbell School in NC, The Arrowmont School of Craft in TN, The Appalachian Center for Craft in TN, and the Haystack Mountain School of Craft in ME.  Variably focusing on welding, woodturning, sculpture and carving, these classes honed my artistic skills.  I have also attended numerous local and national workshops and symposia related to woodturning.

From 2013 onward, my work has been shown in numerous juried exhibitions sponsored by the Strathmore Center for the Arts (MD), The Maryland Federation of Art (MD), Maryland Hall for the Performing Arts (MD), RiverArts Gallery (MD), Goggleworks Art Center (PA), BlackRock Center for the Arts (MD), The Wayne Art Center (PA), the Glen Echo Park (MD), the Cato Institute (DC), and the Artful Dimensions Gallery (VA).  On an annual basis I have participated in many non-juried exhibitions of woodturning sponsored by various woodturning clubs and organizations including the American Association of Woodturners.  In addition, I write a series of articles for The American Woodturner, the journal of the AAW, on medical problems that commonly affect woodturners (and others) and how to deal with them.

While I enjoy making classically turned objects such as bowls, platters, and small utensils, my current artistic focus is on wood sculpture, often starting with turned elements and frequently incorporating a variety of found objects.  With classical woodturning I strive to create elegant yet practical items that reveal the beauty of the grain and the color of the wood from which they are made.  With my sculpture, I seek to offer generally wry commentary on contemporary culture in a manner that offers insight while bringing smiles to the faces of the viewers of my work.

Organizations
I am a member of the American Association of Woodturners, the Northern Michigan Woodturners,  and both the Chesapeake Woodturners and the Montgomery County Woodturners of Maryland; the James Renwick Alliance (Washington, DC), The Maryland Federation of Art (Annapolis, MD), and the RiverArts Gallery (Chestertown, MD).