I have been practicing woodworking for over 39 years, professionally for 21 years.  I use the word practicing because woodworking is like medicine, in that one does not suddenly become a woodworker, rather that they improve their trade over time.  Like in medicine, one developes specilities rather than trying to do everything.  My specialities  are chair building and matching styles.  I was origionally trained as a chemist and worked in Oceanography for 27 years, but my hobbies always were around woodworking.  My first experience  in wood came with my uncle’s coffin factory, but I soon took an intrest in boat building and marine interiors.  Later, I to turned furniture, and always, artwork and sculpture.  My earliest work included  many ship models, and 5 Wooden  sail boats. For the Americas Cup Racing Campaign I have made tow tank models, and other pieces for the boats and campaigns.   After years of exploring and writing about Baja California, I produced many inlaid wood pieces exploring design motifs of prehistoric rock art.   I have remodeled the interiors of several Craftsman homes, including the original Director’s House at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. I have competed in the Del Mar Design in Wood for 25 years and have won awards in the classes of “contemporary”, “traditional,” “art furniture,” “models” and “made for children.” My art furniture piece from the 1993 show, a hammock stand designed as Viking ship frame with a dragons head, appeared on the cover of Fine Woodworking Magazine. I worked for seven years with Niki de St. Phalle building furniture and  artworks.  Collaboration pieces  built for Niki include the Chariot in the Tarot Garden in Italy, and the Niki Snake Chairs for the Jean Tinguely Museum restaurant in Basil, Switzerland.  Several of  the Niki de St. Phalle pieces are part of the permanent collection of the Mingei Museum along with a rocking chair of my own design. Last year I made several pieces for the reconstruction of Jim Hubbells house.  My current projects include an out door memorial  bench, a “Balboa Park Bench”, refining my rocking chair designs, building pieces for other international artists and many entertainment centers.  Althought many of my earlier designs are very organic, many of my lattest art furniture pieces use architecture elements as the primary part of the furniture as seen in San Diego Fine Workers 1st place “New York City Park bench” and  the Italian Hill town chairs,“The Apprentice” which comes from the Trump Tower in New York and plays with the themes of the TV show and most recently the “Balboa Park Bench” based on the artechiture of the park.  I have also judged at the Design in Wood Show and the Annual Palomar College student show. I’ve taught for chairbuilding and boat building classes and have been active in the San Diego Fine Woodworking association for 23 years and prepared programs for all of their educaional programs and the meetings for 15 years.