Why I do what I do
It is a very true statement to say that art is all around us. The world and its people are absolutely beautiful and the utter uniqueness of it all can feel both unfathomable and insignificant at the same time. With this being said, I grew up with an artist’s eye. Something I attribute to both my Dad and my auntie Didi. I remember vividly getting excited to go with my Dad to work and help him find the bugs in his video games when I was four. With Didi, I remember always going on adventures to the new exhibit at the art museum or seeing the new works at the galleries on Santa Fe. I learned from them how to see the world in a different light and to not take the small things for granted.
However, I learned my love of working with my hands from my Papa. Whenever any of us go over to his home, there is always some new project to be made whether from his personal wood shop or from the steel fabrication company he worked for for so many years. Maybe it is a new bed side table, maybe it is a hand turned wooden bowl that he is making using a new type of wood, or maybe he is just helping me fix an old type writer. I learned from him, the value of working with your hands and taking pride in the work that you do. With the recent boom in Denver, and the expansion of the Light Rail system, I know that my Papa’s mark on this city will be permanent. Through these influences, I was able to discover my own love for art and for working with my hands.
I first began working with metal when I was 14. I remember how much fun I had wielding a hammer, using a torch and thinking for the first time in three dimensions. My then teacher, Craig Wright, took me aside at the end of the semester and asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. Seeing as I was a child and the path that lay before me seemed daunting and I was doing my best to try to ignore it, my response was, “I’m not sure.” He sat me down, and proceeded to tell me that he saw potential in me, and urged me to continue working in metal. From that point on, I never looked back. Mr. Wright was the deciding force that propelled me to continue my studies to this day.
Craig and I as I graduated high school
One of the first pieces I made in Randy's class. I no longer own the piece but his lessons regarding stone setting have proven to be invaluable.
Since my time with Craig, I have studied under Randy Burns, learning stone setting, fine jewelry making, raising and overall jewelry design competencies. Haley Bates taught me how to expand what I thought metal could do and urged me to think of the long ranging ramifications of the work I do. She pushed me to not only make beautiful objects, but to make beautiful objects that have a distinct meaning and purpose behind them. And most recently, Ira Sherman has taught me, and is still teaching me, the value of conceptual art and the frenetic means by which we can make art. So long as there is a concept and a general idea, and so long as you have the tools and techniques at your disposal, you can make whatever your heart desires.
Meeting Cam the Ram at what was to be my Alma Mater, Colorado State University.
A wonderful example of Ira Sherman's work. This photo was taken a the Carbondale Fashion Show in Carbondale, CO (March 2016). These are the majority of the pieces that were shown and are examples of his Impenetrable Devices.
As with all artists, I am always learning and discovering what I want to do when I grow up. though Craig propelled me to be where I am today, I can honestly say that I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but I do know that I love what I do and I hope to be able to do it for as long as I can.