Materials include; graphite, woodcut, scratchboard, wood burning, lumber crayon, mixed media or digital.

Clients: Milwaukee Advertising Club, National Business Employment Weekly, Carson Pirie Scott, Wilton Armetale, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Special Kids, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Child, and Hasbro

Design is built on collaboration, thank you to the writers, artist, photographers, art directors, and others that influenced the design with their contributions.

Clients: Milwaukee Advertising Club, National Business Employment Weekly, Carson Pirie Scott, Wilton Armetale, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Special Kids, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Child, Hasbro, and PuffPuff

Awards: The Associated Press, Managing Editors Association of Texas - The Dallas Morning News Class AAAA, 2000 Feature Design Honorable Mention

Press Club of Dallas 2002 Katie Award - The Dallas Morning News, Newspaper Feature Page Layout

Print’s 2003 Regional Design Annual, Certificate of Design Excellence - The Dallas Morning News

The Associated Press, Managing Editors Association of Texas - The Dallas Morning News Class AAAA, 2003 Feature Design Honorable Mention

Print’s 2005 Regional Design Annual, Certificate of Design Excellence - The Dallas Morning News

Materials include; acrylic with graphite underdrawing, gouache, watercolor, wood burning, mixed media and digital.

Clients: Milwaukee Advertising Club, National Business Employment Weekly, Carson Pirie Scott, Wilton Armetale, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Special Kids, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Child, and Hasbro

Clients: Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. - Summerfest & Marcus Amphitheater, Special Kids Co., Firstar, Esteem, Model Retailer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Northwestern Lutheran, Radica, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Child, and Hasbro

Out of necessity and functionality are the reasons things are built, I would also include a smidge of personality and challenge to keep it interesting. Learning a new skill along the way is always a bonus.

I was given woodworking equipment and lumber from my father-in-law, a passionate woodworker his entire life. The wood collection included maple, walnut, cherry, and some padauk, most in the form of 10’ planks. I was happy to receive the wood, but the issue was protecting it and storage space.

The solution created an opportunity to try a different approach to a SHED. I wanted to break the frame from the standard straight-line roof. My inspiration came from seeing some structures with roofs caving from failed trusses, visually giving them a slope like a Norse-pagoda.

I began by setting the gravel for the base of the structure and added a landing from the yard step down. The landing is framed with Belgium block, to keep the mosaic of the stone stable. Polymeric sand was then used, to lock in the stone design.

The design was made with the app Sketchup. The app was a big help in figuring out the specific truss geometry, critical measurements, and an approximate supply list.

Originally I wanted the roof to be copper, but the cost was a bit crazy so I instead settled on cedar shingle roof and using copper for the roof of the cupola. PVC the same material used on trim was used on the outside of the cupola so I wouldn’t need to repaint. I hate heights and ladders….

Craigslist proved to be an excellent source for the door- $30 including the jamb and a scenic drive to Cape Cod for pick up. I repaired the door frame, inset glass panels, and refinished. The utility door is biscuit jointed pine and finished to match the front door. The awning windows, (hinged at the top of the frame), were old storm windows that I found down the street for $3 each. I was able to refinish and replace the glass.

Piece by piece I tore our old upright piano apart for parts and to make it lighter to move out of the house. From all the salvaged metal and wood pieces a PIANO BENCH was built, because we were in need of one. The bench is supported with the back and cantilever of the side panels. The top holds two hinged compartments for keys, of course, and the pedals have tension so you can press them down, if you like.

My Great Aunt Marie gave us this OCCASIONAL CHAIR when my wife and I were just starting out and didn’t have much furniture. I remember the chair when we would visit my great grandparents, and great aunts. From its storied history of repairs and industrial vacuum run-ins it was in need of reupholstering.

I tightened the arms and frame, stripping the varnish and sanding the years of nicks and scratches. I stained the wood dark and polyurethaned with a satin finish. INspiration was found in the fabric at Zimman’s, an upholstery fabric store, in Lynn, MA., who also finished with the end upholstery.

I made an accompanied footstool and upholstered it myself. I reclaimed some feet I found at a local antique store that added the different materials of glass and metal.

As the story goes…

An elderly woman once worked at the town’s dog pound. When the pound closed, the owner gave a small piece of land to the woman. We were told she was kind and only due to an accident, she no longer could live alone in the tiny house. We purchased the property and built a new home.

Prior to demo, we salvaged items and materials we thought could be reclaimed:

-address number 9 decal

-a couple pictures taped to the wall

-bathroom curtains

-cigar box including a metal piece, a can of scratch remover and a metal plate etched with the name Wilbur

-half-built garage structure wood planks

I was able to repurpose lumber from a garage structure on the property to use in the construction of a SLIDING BARN DOOR, that was made for a laundry room. I collected mis-tinted paint from the local home improvement stores and coated the lumber with multiple layers of paint. The lumber was then planed and sanded in different ways revealing the multi-layers of paint and sealed with two coats of satin polyurethane. From the back of the door I built in a shadow box to showcase those few items we found in the original home, bringing an acknowledgment and thank you to history, with the wood and treasures found.

We had come to a point when it became clear that our two boys needed to have a room to call their own for our own sanity as parents. The plan was to find furniture that would help maximize storage. We found a great BED DESIGN at a hoity-toity store and made the purchase.

Our house in Lincoln RI. was a quaint 1936 colonial. The term “quaint” translates to tiny closets, narrow staircase, and constant repairs and refurbish. When delivery day for the huge beds arrived, it became clear that their would be no way to bring them up the tiny staircase… we had to refuse the shipment.

I ended up making the beds. The maple was sourced from, Jarmak Lumberyard, in Oxford, MA. The maple was originally from a Providence, RI, factory floor located by the Providence harbor.

The beauty of the bed design is that the frame breaks down; headboard, footboard, 3X drawers, bottom and top frames, and support pieces. No broken backs, easy assembly and happy boys in their own rooms.

The enjoyment of stained glass is building a picture out of light that is ever-changing. Manipulation of light is created with the qualities of glass in the way of transparence and textures. You’re forced to simplify design and the lead is your line work.

I got into STAINED GLASS for two reasons:

We built a house in Plano, TX. The regional architecture, at that time, took advantage of arched windows. On paper, the rounded windows are brilliant, but when you have one of these 5’ diameter, East facing beasts in your bedroom – it’s a different story. There are blinds and other contraptions to block-out the light, but no elegant solutions.

The second reason is a nosey neighbor that still managed to watch us while we were eating our morning Cheerios in spite of blinds.

For the two - 3’ X 5’ Cheerios-eating privacy windows, I used Frank Lloyd’s Tree of Life design as inspiration, adjusting for some color and proportion allocations.

When we relocated to Rhode Island I worked at Christopher Foster Stained Glass, a place that did stained glass restoration. As a perk, I could bring home smaller pieces of scrap and overflow, which would include unique vintage glass. I leveraged these vintage glass treasures in a diptych, celebrating my parent’s 50th anniversary.

Growing up, I had fond memories of spending time at the lakes and woods of Wisconsin. A day might include catching frogs, watching turtles swim and feeding the fish cheese curds from the local cheese factory just down the road. My parents started off at the lake with a camper trailer, then upscaled to the powder blue carpeted mobile home, to finally building a stellar lake home. They installed two quarter moon windows that flanked either side of a fireplace, that my mom thought would be a choice spot for stained glass.

I think I have a little hoarder in me…

Ever collect something, because of sentiment, memory, or fixation only to find the multitudes of things in a box stowed away never to be seen? Why do I have this box of stuff?

Giving purpose for a collection by displaying it. It’s about celebration and enjoyment of all things precious to you, for all the many reasons to collect, and I have one less box.

Visiting the PEZ Museum in Orange, CT one weekend with an already substantial Pez collection inspired the displays.

To preserve the dispensers, fabrication of zinc “U” channel tracts and sheet metal base were constructed to hold the Pez. The “U” channel tract shelves trap the dispensers feet, but also allow them to slide across the shelf for positioning.

UV glass used for archival intent.

Restaurants, and other businesses at one time offered complimentary MATCHBOOKS.

I don't smoke, but it was a nifty calling card to remember an establishment. My wife and I started acquiring the books when we first started dating.

UV glass used for archival intent.

In grade school, I brought my peanut butter sandwich every day to school in an awesome metal Muppet LUNCHBOX. It had Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Miss. Piggy. Fozzie Bear and of course Kermit. It's what I was interested in at the time.

The collection began with our fond memories from old shows, movies or bands. As the collection grew we would take advantage of staircase wall locations with the use of floating shelves. The shelves are beveled to give more focus to the boxes. With each move we would reconfigure the placement. Which meant that each new configuration, needed to be filled with additional boxes. It’s insanity!

Visiting Rhode Island Antiques store, to find parts and things I really didn't need. A booth would catch my eye, it had a framed image of 1950s YO-YO champion Larry Sayegh having a blast throwing yo-yos with a flat display box. I must have seen Larry a bunch of times before making the purchase and bringing Larry home.

This photo and box inspired me to research and hunt down Sayco yo-yos to complete Larry’s story. I discovered that we would drive unknowingly past his house, where he built the yo-yos. Local lore would also reveal that he entertained and had a toy shop in Pawtucket that kids would frequent and learn how to do tricks.

UV glass used for archival intent.