Biography

I am fortunate in having discovered very early that my love of working with wood could be cultivated into a way to make a living. At age 19 I took a job at a player piano factory, where the owner of the factory gave me a valuable gift that changed my life's direction. The player piano factory was the hobby of a California lawyer who loved machinery. He had a large building full of 19^th century woodworking machines driven by a working steam engine that he fired up once a year to put all of the antique machines through their paces. There were modern machines at the piano company as well, and I was encouraged to learn about any and all of them that inspired me. The owner of the factory was always available to answer my questions, and to suggest new projects for me to explore. During the 5 years that I worked there, I got a good basic understanding of woodworking, metal machining, brazing, plastics, adhesives, fasteners, engineering, and manufacturing.
Thanks to this man, I have been free to discover and pursue my own passion. Working in small cabinet shops until 1992, I then turned to full time self-employment. I explored several options, including making hang gliding equipment and building airplanes, before realizing that working with wood was my true passion. My first experience with turning wood was in 1984, when I made a pair of chairs with turned spindles. Woodturning continued to be one of my many hobbies
until I made it my full time occupation in 1998.

 Life as a self-employed woodturner is not without difficulty. On this journey I continue to experience my strengths and weaknesses; the greatest struggle for me has been with self-confidence. A tremendous source of strength and inspiration has been my life-partner David Nittmann, whose support and encouragement
has helped me to grow as an artist and as a person.