Making things

In a world dominated by consumption, the act of making things is immensely satisfying.

Throughout my life I’ve been making things: battleships from cardboard boxes as a child; software and systems as a professional; photographs, knives and sculptures as an adult. As a result, I’ve continually dreamed and schemed to acquire tools. My first toolbox was tiny and sparse, dwarfed by comparison to Mom’s which was chock full of the things she used to maintain our home and car. High school in the 1970s exposed me to a machine shop and a wonderful teacher (thanks Jim Koutsoures!) as well as to other industrial arts. Computers got the better of me though and I’ve spent my career in the digital realm.

In 2004, a chance visit to eBay awakened the old dream: I spotted an auction of a small metal lathe which was nearby. I was first astonished that a lathe would be on eBay, then curious enough to go see it. Well I didn’t buy that lathe, but some years and thousands of pounds of old iron later, I finally have the small shop that has been a dream since childhood. Actually it is more than just a small shop, it has been a labor of love and I am profoundly grateful for my wife’s incredible support and understanding. As an artist, she truly understands the need to create in the physical realm.