Back in my senior year of high school in ‘85 I discovered welding when I took a shop class at the Tech School. I eventually got creative and started making little creations from the scrap pile when my instructor wasn't looking. It was about a decade later that I got back to creating these little metal creatures. I found some railroad spikes in a substation, while working for my family as a high voltage technician, and made some little people out of them. This is how my little Railroad Spike People came into being. It was even more fun now since I didn't have to worry about my welding instructor catching me "goofing off.” I often wonder if he even knew what I was doing, didn't know, or did he care as long as I was throwing sparks? After a renewed fascination my work sprouted in different directions. I've made all sorts of crazy sculptures, candle holders, furniture and anything else that my muse inspires. Most of my work starts with a piece of metal that catches my eye, then other pieces that fit the idea. Sometimes it takes weeks, months or even years to find the perfect parts to make a piece work (still have one waiting for about five years now). At left is a pic of some of my high school creations (click to enlarge).

In my twenties I got into music and started writing songs and poetry. I found this to be an excellent way to express myself, to get things off my chest, or to just capture the moment when something struck me enough to analyze it. I enjoy writing, putting just the right words together like a mental jigsaw puzzle. I find language to be quite fascinating, with different ways to say something or different meanings in one saying.

In the winter of ‘95 I started painting. After a failed attempt at trying to take a painting workshop and juggle work, I started to work at my own pace. This was much more successful and evolved to be one of my favorite creative outlets. I just let my mind relax and wander, moving paint around until something begins to take shape. Painting is a great meditation for me. It allows me to put things in perspective, taking the chaotic confusion of random thought and putting it in solid form to look at objectively. I don't plan ahead much, simply let the paint, my emotion and my imagination guide me along. Some turn out serene, some are not. I guess this is due to the fact that, as an outlet, I end up venting my angers and frustrations. I study my paintings for quite a while, trying to find some meaning in each one. I've been asked many times about the faces in  many of my paintings. I guess it's akin to the Phantom Images of Dali's Paranoiac Critical Method or Max Ernst's Frottage experiments.  Oftentimes I find myself staring into space deep in thought looking blankly at clouds, trees, clustered objects, wood grain, etc... and suddenly noticing figures or faces. Sometimes I look at funny shaped vegetables or other objects and notice things. (below right - an example, a dried squash with a toothy grin)  I happen to see many strange things in life that usually go unnoticed. One morning not too long ago I awoke to see a face that seemed to be looking back at me from the living room. It was slightly unnerving. Somehow, on the little shelf where my wife keeps her fairies, three figurines combined to make a face (below left - the face is encircled and rotated, click to see a larger image).

In August 2001 at about 4am, my ex came into the bedroom screaming "The garage is on fire!" As I shuffled across the floor rubbing the sleep from my eyes expecting to see a small flicker from the window, I turned the corner and my heart sank. The back windows were lit up as if it were daylight outside. I got to the back door and looked out. My workshop was engulfed in flames. Scrambling to the phone I dialed 911. When the dispatcher answered I screamed "My garage is on fire!" I was ready to hang up and grab the garden hose, but luckily she kept me on the phone with "all these stupid questions" -- Is the garage attached or detached? Do you have any flammable or hazardous materials in the garage? -- I said to myself "Heck, I don't even know what I have out there just get here!!" I was so rattled I couldn't remember anything! I pulled aside the curtain on the back door, to look at the garage to jog my memory. I started rattling off items, such as paint thinner, spray cans, gasoline, small propane bottles (which were all popping and exploding). Then my heart stopped dead. As I turned to run, suddenly remembering the huge bottles of Acetylene and Oxygen attached to my welding torch, it happened... Just before I could drop the phone and run screaming like a girl, the Acetylene cylinder erupted. From the corner of my eye I saw half the building hit the sky. The shock wave was like someone kicked me with both feet, but I felt it all over. The blast was so forceful that things were knocked off the wall in the houses across the street!
To see more pics of the devastation click on the pic to the right. The 1/4" thick Acetylene cylinder was ripped open like an aluminum can. You can see the clear spot on the concrete slab where it previously rested. The blast actually cracked the slab! In front of the cylinder lies the twisted remains of my workbench, which it shot through like a rocket ripping heavy steel legs off on its way. The oxygen cylinder, which was previously standing next to the acetylene cylinder, came to rest 60ft. away after it hammered into my large roll-around toolbox, which slammed into my 500lb. metal lathe, and pushed my 1500lb. milling machine two feet across the floor. Luckily all the machinery was in its way, otherwise the unimpeded 100lb. projectile certainly could have reworked my dental plan. Another fortunate thing is that the Oxygen was down to a mere 20psi. from 2500psi. or it could have rapidly accelerated the combustion of this 1800F+ aluminum eating fire, creating a massive fireball which would have incinerated everything nearby. In either case you wouldn't be reading this, nor my neighbors for that matter! I was given this last revelation, while in the scrap yard looking for inspiring metal tidbits, when I met a retired Army Colonel. I told him the tale and how lucky I was, then he looked me square in the eyes and said "Son, you don't know how lucky you are! When I was in Desert Storm, we'd strap explosives on a pair of those bottles and it'd take out an entire city block. Your house, the two next to it, and probably even the houses across the street, would have been leveled!" I stood there speechless. I've often joked about cats having only nine lives. Did I mention the time I was electrocuted by 12,000 volts, or the time I was almost incinerated by a fire in my buddy's race car involving nitrous oxide? Guess I'll have to save that for another time.

Here's a fun little piece we did,
when she was about 4yrs old.
I let her scribble on a canvas
with crayons and I finished it.