Artist’s Statement

I love the economy of poetry and at the same time I am frustrated with the limits of language. Much of what I have written might be described as realism. It's about real people and real situations. At the top of the list of those poets I admire are Tom Wayman, Patrick Lane and Al Purdy.

My latest visual art creation is a series of mutant chair assemblages made from derelict chair parts and other found wood. Skeletal remains of trees and stone have a special appeal because of their shape and inner structure. they are raw material for barren three dimensional landscapes, sculptural paintings and objects which might be called furniture - except I do not make furniture,
only art.

Biography

Born in rural Alberta I worked the oil rigs in the early 1960's followed by a brief stint in the Royal Canadian Navy. In 1966 I enrolled at the university of Alberta and graduated six years later with a BA(Hon) and MA in Philosophy. I was attending the Australian National University on a PhD scholarship when I knew I no longer wanted to be an academic. Returning to Canada I enrolled in the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge and tried my hand at teaching in the public school system. Four years later I began my career as an industrial electrician in an East Kootenay coal mine.

I have published two poetry collections: "Light Through the Cracks" and "This is My Table" as well as a chapbook, "In the 1950's and Other Disrespectful Pieces" (Really Small Vernon Press). My poems have been published in "Quills Canadian Poetry", "Ascent Aspirations", "Harvesting Treasures", "Trade Talk" and "Pinebeetle Review".

Gallery Vertigo hosted my first exhibition, "Mutation", featuring my altered chair assemblages in September 2007.

I am currently the president (2007) of the North Okanagan Artists Alternative and a board member of Salmon Arm Writers.