About the Artist

My art has always been the product of a passion, an inner thirst that moves me to create. I have been a woodcarver most of my life. At the age of 9, I carved my first wooden mask. It was a very small and it was painted matte black. Other masks followed, which I gave away to friends and family. After exploring ceramics, drawing, painting, tapestry, and other media, my natural tendency drew me back to wood, balsa wood to be specific. Why balsa? Fellow woodcarvers and friends have asked me why I've chosen balsa wood when it's so fragile and difficult to detail. They’ve suggested I use harder woods, stone, or metal in my work. I've explored other media, but have chosen balsa wood over anything else. Balsa provides a wonderful integration of the malleability of clay and the beauty and permanence of wood, without the hardness or coldness of stone. I love its lightness, its pure and even coloring, its smell, and its feel to the touch.