A native of Phoenicia, I have spent my life loving the outdoors and its many recreational offerings. After graduating college with a BS in Art Education, I spent a few years teaching. I longed for the outdoors and changed my profession to carpentry. I have been a self employed craftsman for most of my working years and have developed an affinity for wood and space. My art is mainly sculptural and reflects my education, my vocation and my interest in Native American history. As a teen, I enjoyed tying flies and using them to fish the Esopus. As I began to develop my idea for the Leaping Trout Project, I decided to include a fly with the trout. I wanted my work to be 3-dimensional and to hint at why a trout would leap. I used laminated wood, found objects, bones and beads made of glass, clay and wood along with the aluminum form to create my trout sculpture. Please visit my home during the Shandaken Artist Tour in July, 2010 to see more of my work.