My work as a figurative sculptor is based upon the solid foundation of thirty years working with clay as well as ten years of anatomy training and practicing massage therapy. Working toward developing an excellence in classical style representational sculpting, I have been taking workshops in figurative sculpting with master sculptors for the past fifteen years. In my studio work as a ceramic artist, I have been exploring the themes of the torso and the face and have had some of that work cast in bronze. I think my work with the figurative theme helps people to realize the awe and wonder of the human body. At shows when patrons see my booth full of figurative work and the way that I have abstracted it, they are awe struck.

In the past four years I have been called to do several wildlife sculptures and that has been very rewarding. In 2007 one of my sculptures titled "River Spirit", a 7 foot Great Blue Heron, was used for a sculpture fundraising project by the city I live in. A fund-raising event was started with my volunteering to create a sculpture of a 7 foot Blue Heron. We wanted to bring a nature theme into our city environment as well as raise money for some arts projects. The project was overwhelmingly successful: fifteen local artists painted fifteen resin castings of my heron. They were exhibited throughout the city in 2007. Our citizens and visitors loved them and they were auctioned off in the fall of that year for a $44,000 profit that went to the cities Fine Arts Commission to further the arts in the community.

In 2009 I won a grant by public vote, for my River Otter design titled Clean Water Brings Life for refurbishing a drinking fountain by the lake. This was part of a year long celebration of our water, organized by a collaborative effort between the city, our two local colleges, the technical college, an environmental group and the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater.

Later in 2009 I was asked to create a memorial for an outstanding community leader who was dying of cancer. His work in land stewardship and local sustainable agriculture was outstanding. I was pleased to sculpt my first near life scale human sculpture to honor this man's life and work. The image is of a man holding a handful of dirt and the caption is Protect the Soil, Honor the Earth, the source of Life. This was an especially important piece for me because I am a cancer survivor. A mold has been made on the clay sculpture and a wax copy has been made for fundraising. We are still working on raising the funds to have this piece cast in bronze.

I am teaching my first sculpture class Sculpting the Head in March of this year Crossings Artist Center in Zumbrota and am looking forward to doing more teaching in my studio and for other centers.

I have been in many cities where sculpture parks with permanent and/or revolving sculpture collections are highly prized feature attractions, free for the public to enjoy. It is my vision to bring more great sculpture to our area. Sculptures with educational and social issue messages are especially meaningful to me as they serve as day to day reminders as we live with them in our midst.