To account for where my work comes from and/or how it comes, beyond little hints such as those above, the most genuine comment I can share is that, again and again, I’m prompted to begin creating by small transient “things” or combinations of “things” or “stimulus” I have encountered in the course of everyday life. According to MerriamWebster this something that rouses the mind or spirits or incites to activity. I think this may be as close as I’ll ever get to what a rainbow trout experiences upon spying a fly skimming across its line of sight. These stimulus aren’t just any old things though; they’re only what I react to in a specific, positive and productive way. They are things or events that come to me cloaked as a musical phrase or notes that form a chord...a thing that becomes greater than the sum of its parts. This begins a compositional process of bringing together elements to form the design and increasingly to rely upon my craft and experience. I’ve spoken of this with a writer, a musician, and a finish carpenter who each share a sense of the familiar in these thoughts.
As roughly described above, it should be fairly clear that my work process, or the journey of birthing new designs, may be powered by a boundless variety of personal experiences...experiences from music, images in nature, tribal themes and even shadows amidst a summer dawn’s light. God only knows where next is; I find myself caught in a thought and off my merry way I go. As I begin to work, define and integrate elements of the design it’s as if I were trying to focus upon something distant and vague. Then, depending on opportunity and my capacity for obstinate labor, distance yields to persistence as I work, and my design becomes closer and clearer; and more colorful.
Needless to say, the particulars of growing a design to maturity varies greatly, especially in the case of commission or custom work. Regardless of the aesthetic particulars of any given example of my work, a primary concern in its making was to create something that would have lasting value. For my purposes, lasting value is largely defined by the integrity of my choices of materials. Within my range of choices you will only find the best, most authentic fabrics and materials from the world’s marketplace. Among the sources currently of interest are Bali, Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria, Peruvian, Andean, recycled, select designers and, of course, the good ol' U.S. of A.* Keeping an acceptable range of unique and authentic textiles and materials on hand is expensive and must constantly be the concern of unending efforts. Prospecting for new materials leads me on an unending hunt to find the finest of both new and vintage pieces to a puzzle that may or may never get put together.