About Me
Sometimes your art obsession find you, and not the other way around. I came into my art form in a roundabout way, but one thing I have always been is a rock collector. I truly love rocks.
I spent over 20 years installing high-end kitchen and bath stone counters. One day while moving a slab of Honeycomb Calcite to install as a restaurant bar counter, it caught the sun just right and glowed from within. The intensity of the honey-yellow and caramel-orange hues stopped me in my tracks. Thus began my interest in learning all I could about this stone. Luckily, I didn't have to travel to some exotic locale, I only had to drive to Utah (~15hr drive) to go and get some.
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Discovering what to make with my new pile of rocks was also a happy mistake. I shoved a 1/2 opened bottle of wine into a sculpted hole. Thus starting the discussion with my wife, a Sonoma County Winemaker, if the stone would keep the wine a constant cool temperature. Experiments ensued. I guess you could say that an appreciation for fine wine (and its proper storage) is an important, well-integrated part of our household. We discovered that wine racks out of stone was not a new concept, but that was the inspiration that led me to try my own.
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A by product of drilling holes in rocks, is a perfectly symmetrical core hole. I drilled small openings in these and inserted LED lights. These beautiful golden 'night lights' are in the bedrooms of all our friends and extended family members. These are as unique as each rock, with demand for these getting so high, I started selling these also.
My home studio in Forestville, CA is available by appointment for visitors to come by and view the art process.