About the Artist

I like to look under rocks
(click to enlarge pic)

Knifemaking as a hobby / custom work.
At this time I make knives only as a hobby. I work full time pursuing one of my other passions in life, the natural world. My work as a biologist keeps me very busy during the summer as I am often off hiking somewhere in remote areas of the Pacific Northwest chasing critters for extended periods of time. I have limited time to pursue my hobby in the winter and even less time in the summer. My wife and I recently purchased our first home and I spend a lot of time working on and around the house. I have a large shop space I am remodeling to create a much improved, safe and secure shop for knifemaking and woodworking. All these things have meant that, for the time being, I am only sharpening/repairing knives as they come in, and have put my handmade orders on hold. But if you are interested, I would love to talk to you about knifemaking, or anything else, for that matter. I love questions so feel free to ask about anything you see (or don't see) here. I don't believe in knifemaking secrets. Someone was good enough to show or tell me, so I will do the same. Just don't get cross if it takes me a few days to get back to you. Use the contact form to send me an email.

More about me
The abridged version of my life up to now goes something like this:

I was born at home in Berkeley, CA, but celebrated my first birthday in Oregon.

Bridge to my hometown
(click to enlarge pic)

I grew up on a small 70 acre farm at the base of the Cascades in Myrtle Creek, OR where we grew much of what we ate, hand-milked cows, cooked and heated with wood heat, raised pigs, chickens, brown Swiss cows, geese, an occasional duck and many mice and blacktail deer.

I spent a great deal of my time as a younger person exploring the natural world around me in the forests and streams where I lived.

I grew up without a television, and have never grown to appreciate them.

I was home-schooled until I entered public school in the latter half of the 5th Grade.

I graduated from high school and went on to get a degree in biology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. After finishing my Thesis in Animal Behavior and Conservation Biology at Reed, my fiancée and I needed a break, so we had a public celebration of our union and joined the Northwest Service Academy, an Americorps program and moved to Trout Lake, WA. We both had a wonderful time over the next two years, and learned a great deal, as well as feeling that we did something significant to help our country and world. We then moved back to Oregon. I pursued my "career" (I call it my life) as a biologist/naturalist, and my wife obtained a license in Early Childhood Special Education.

Most recently we purchased a little bit of land with an older home on it near Albany, OR.

I can be obsessive/compulsive, opinionated and a control freak at times.

I try to love life and enjoy the small and simple aspects of the universe and how I interact with it. That is not to say there are not days when I get frustrated with Life, The Universe, and Everything. But I do try and be optimistic and enjoy my time here without intentionally causing others undue pain or suffering, or being in a hurry to get to the end. So far, that approach seems to work for me. I am not perfect, and I hope I never am.

I have many other interests and pursuits. Some of these (at this time) include just about all aspects of natural history, ethnobotany, primitive living skills, nature photography, and discussing and implementing ideas and methods for decreasing our impact on the world and people around us.