Starting as a little kid making fairy houses in the yard, I’ve always loved looking at tiny things in the natural world. Years later, I found an interest in taking macro photos of moss, lichens, and other things I found in the woods, on mountains, in the sea, and in the desert. The tiny organic forms I found- and the not-so-tiny as well- now heavily influence my sculptural forms.
finding sea urchin spines in the sand on Porcupine Island in Acadia, Maine
This is cryptobiotic soil, which is found in many of the national parks in Utah. Cryptobiotic soil houses a symbiotic community of living organisms, including cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses. The organisms form the surface soil into a crust which prevents erosion in sensitive desert ecosystems throughout the world. Footprints and other disturbances destroy fragile biological soil crust, and the organisms may take five to seven years to begin to recover.
Tafoni rock formations
cracked mud in Canyonlands
Canyonlands National Park
Hiking, backpacking, road trips, even just walking my pup around the neighborhood, are always opportunities for discovery and a bit of inspiration.
making giant nests from fallen branches with Yolanda Cavicchio at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in 2013
Tide pools in Ocean Beach, San Diego in 2016
observations while cutting up jackfruit in 2018- as well as a trip out to Mt Laguna to watch a meteor shower- influenced my 2018 series of jokingly titled “moon rocks”
recent additions (2021)