Artist Statement

Art has always been my first language.

Before I had the words for it, I was already building, drawing, imagining - trying to understand the world by creating something with my hands. My mother is an artist and when I was young, she creatively painted landscapes on barn doors. I grew up watching my father and grandfather weld and fabricate, turning raw materials into whatever they envisioned. My great-grandfather was a blacksmith. Long before that, his father made a living shaping and carving combs by hand.

There was never a question of if something could be made - only how.

That mindset has stayed with me.

Today, through Faded Timber Studio, I carry that same tradition forward - not just to build, but to preserve.

Across the Midwest, barns that once stood at the center of family farms are slowly disappearing. These structures held more than livestock or hay - they held the rhythm of daily life, the work of generations, and the stories that shaped families.

My work is about honoring those places ...and the people who worked there.

Each barn heirloom begins with photographs and memories, but it becomes something more. Through careful craftsmanship and attention to time-worn detail, I aim to capture not just the structure, but the feeling of it—the weathered wood, the faded paint, the quiet presence it once held on the land.

Whenever possible, I incorporate wood from the original barn itself—allowing the piece to carry part of its own history forward.

I’ve spent over 35 years creating professionally, but the most meaningful work has always been this: taking something that matters deeply to someone and giving it form again - something they can hold, display, and pass down.

Because some places deserve more than a memory.

They deserve to keep standing.