Here are some of the questions people like you have submitted. To send a question of your own, go to the bottom of this page.

What was involved in teaching yourself how to sculpt?
A lot of time. I literally read and re-read my how-to book and then just spent time working with different stones and tools. To create my first piece, I literally read page one, did what it said, read page two, did what it said, and so on until I had a finished work.

How extensive is your collection of equipment?
Huge - It takes a lot of stuff to do this. In addition to my workshop and its overhead cranes, I have sets of hand tools, sets of air tools and sets of electric tools. For every type of chisel or saw blade, you need a number of different sizes. Each time I moved up into larger and heavier pieces, I had to get all new tools that were heavier, longer, and stronger. Then there is all of the support stuff, like a big SuperDuty truck with a V8 diesel engine and a small crane on the back, portable swamp cooler, air compressor, engine hoist used as a small crane, carving tables, wood blocks, space heater, and it goes on and on.

Do you have a favorite type of stone you like to work with?
There are several stones that I really like to work with:
Travertine because of its varied and inspiring patterns and colors
Seven Springs Onyx because of the intense reds from the Jasper in it
Soapstone because it's easy to work and polishes to deep colors

Does Eastern philosophy play a part in your art?
Definitely. For starters, I see myself as an equal partner with the stones and my tools. My role is to do the work, that is, to be the mechanism through which the stone and tools create a work of art. I have input to the creative process, but I am just one vote in three. I regard each stone as an individual with a personality and a will of its own. I look to the stone for the design and to the tools for the technique. I also look for finding balance in each piece, the Yin and the Yang.

How did you get into glass ?
I’ve always been interested in glass because of the intense color and play of light in glass sculpture. Over the years I’ve collected several pieces. A few years after moving into my house I still hadn’t found the right light fixture for the dining room and decided to make one with a glass artist friend of mine. Then this same friend invited me to join a group of artists going to Mexico to study glass sand casting with Ana Thiel. I went and was hooked from the first pour.

Do you generally work from the plan first developed or is it an evolving process?
I always have an idea in mind that I feel comes from the stone itself. But as things unfold, as the shape changes through the work, new ideas come. Also, there is that Whoops thing, the unexpected break or piece that falls off and takes the piece in a new direction.