From a young age, I’ve always been fascinated by creating art and tools with my hands. Some of my earliest memories involve exploring the woods, carving saplings into primitive spears, and trying to catch my own food in the wild. There’s even a family story about the time I was six years old, standing on a beach with my uncle, crafting a driftwood spear tipped with a mussel shell—only to charge full steam toward a massive sea lion, screaming like a barbarian.

Once my “survival needs” were met, my creative instincts evolved into making art. I remember spending childhood summer down by the river- harvesting clay to make rough ceramic pots. Those moments of pure focus—whether carving spears or sculpting clay—sparked a lifelong passion for creating.

Two early influences shaped my creative journey: Les Stroud, the survivalist-filmmaker behind Survivorman, and Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate engineer-artist. Les inspired my love for crafting simple tools and telling stories through exploration. Da Vinci introduced me to the beauty of invention and the art of design. I’ll never forget trying to recreate Icarus’s wax wings at the age of ten—complete with a wooden bat-wing skeleton and heat-shrink wrap—with full plans to test them from our roof (an idea my mother unfortunately vetoed).

That same blend of curiosity and precision has guided my path ever since. At thirteen, I built my first forge in the backyard by filling a hole with charcoal and using my mom’s hairdryer as a blower. I was able to reach temperatures hot enough to make steel glow white. This experiment was a huge triumph that came at the small cost of setting my porch on fire.

In search of a strong, technical foundation, I earned my Bachelor of Science in Design Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. Today, I live in Milwaukie, Oregon, with my dog, Juni—working full-time as a sculptor, engineer, and unapologetic maker.