Acceptance
16” x 16”
Maple & ebony
Inspired by the election of Barack Obama.
Breaking Out
18” diameter
Dyed veneer and assorted
Inspired by the need for prison reform.
Bourbon Street Blues
21” tall
Maple & ebony
Done as a donation to a benefit auction for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Brain Candy
55” diameter
Redwood and cedar
Installed in a lobby of a local community college.
Coming Together
24” diameter
Maple, walnut, and others
The two colors, the dark and the light, come together towards the center. No turning, just a lot of segmenting and carving.
Crooked Journey
14” diameter
Peruvian walnut, dyed veneer on a granite base
This is a five-sided endless tube. To successfully complete the loop, three different donut diameters were created, with different orientations of the pentagon surfaces.
Diversity
20” diameter
Maple, ebony, walnut, yellowheart, bloodwood
Making a statement using the five colors of man.
Equality
21” diameter
Myrtlewood and ebony
Made from 1215 pieces of wood, the date the Magna Carta was written.
Erosion of a Dream
15” diameter
Maple and dyed veneers on a granite base
Just trying to make a statement.
Faithful
36” tall
European beech, red batu, pau ferro, maple burl
This is a wall hanging requiring many tapered rings. The pushpin appears to penetrate the wall.
Family Legacy
15” diameter
Maple, pink ivory, ebony, English walnut, Brazilain tulipwood, black walnut, and purpleheart
This was a commission. Each triangle represents a sibling and the black walnut and purpleheart represent the dad and mom.
Float Loops
60” diameter
Redwood
First outdoor sculpture, partially done as a test of Titebond III glue. So far, it has survived three Tahoe winters, under snow much of the time. Small steel cables hold the tubes in an arrangement called tensegrity.
Footprints of a Twister
13” diameter
Assorted woods
This piece was done as a tribute to the victims of the 2011 tornados that produced so much heartache in the Midwest and Southeast US. Proceeds benefited the Red Cross.
Gabriel’s Dilemma
18” tall
Kingwood, Brazilian tulipwood, Gabon ebony
All surface were lathe shaped before assembly. The title refers to the teaching that the archangel Gabriel will blow a horn to announce Judgment Day.
Galactic Journey
22” diameter
Assorted woods
Created from six interlocked pentagon-shaped rings. Each large ring is comprised of five outside curves and five inside curves. Each of the large rings is comprised of 2160 pieces, the equivalent of an age of the Zodiac.
Gift of Gordius
33” diameter
Assorted woods
9,900 pieces forming individually created tapered rings. Inspired by the story of the Gordian Knot.
Global Spring
21” tall
Maple and others with a black granite base
Inspired by worldwide tension. 16,384 pieces, a noteworthy number in the history of computing.
Growth
28” tall
Myrtlewood and ebony
Created from individually created tapered rings.
Guardian
37” tall
Canarywood, purpleheart, and others on a granite base.
Seven-sided mobius torus. A crosscut of the donut reveals a seven-pointed star (a heptagram), a traditional symbol for warding off evil. Most American sheriff badges are seven pointed stars.
Head Games
18” tall
Curly maple, canarywood, and Texas ebony
Created from individually turned cylinders. The pierced designs are good luck symbols.
Integration
16” diameter donuts
Curly maple and walnut
A statement about racial equality.
Martin’s Dream
36” wide
Ebony & birdseye maple
Inspired by Martin Luther King’s, “I have a dream” speech.
No Place Like Home
10” diameter
Yellowheart, Macassar ebony, dyed veneer
It’s an endless three-sided tube. Homage to one of the greatest movies of all time, the “Wizard of Oz.”
Perpetuity
20” tall
Carob with a black granite base
Constructed from components of three individually turned donuts.
The Power of Seven
20” diameter
Ambrosia maple on a granite base
This is an endless seven-sided tube that forms a spherical shape. It’s made from ambrosia maple (insect-infested). Almost 700 rings, each with seven segments.
Prosperity
26” tall
Macassar ebony & lyptus on a granite base
Constructed from components of two donuts cut into eight quarter sections and then reassembled. In many Chinese communities, eight is considered the most fortuitous of numbers.
Serenity
24” diameter
Continuous triangular tube with “open” segments
Smile on Your Brother
13” donuts
Assorted woods
Inspired by the song, “Get Together.” Construction started by turning 500 small cylinders that were then cut apart and joined together to form the curly rings. The tapered rings are held to each other with tiny dowel pins.
4% Solution
14” tall
Mesquite assorted woods
This is an “orderly tangle” (my first tangle). Inspired by a Tom Hank’s commencement address.
Split Personality
6” donuts
Assorted woods and dyed veneers
Just an example of using tapered rings.
Stronger Together
6” donuts
Assorted woods
The five colors of man are represented. Inspired by the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign slogan.
Thank You Mr. Snelson
12” diameter
Maple and dyed veneers
The “Mr. Snelson” in the title refers to Kenneth Snelson, the inventor/discoverer of “tensegrity,” a technique of using opposing forces to hold components in place. The three-segmented loops are suspended by six loops of fishing line that are threaded through 24 locations (they don’t touch each other).
Porous Torus
20” diameter
maple and mesquite
An example of “open” segmenting
Tribute to Collin
11” diameter
Pernambuco, ebony, and dyed veneer on a granite base
This is a three-side endless tube. An English wood carver, Collin Roberts, first developed the shape.
Unbroken Circle
13” diameter
Maple, Texas ebony, bloodwood, and mesquite
The number 13 is well represented: there are 13 sets of rings, the spiral makes 13 revolutions before joining back to itself, along with the 13” diameter and the 13-degrees of tilt. For early Egyptians, 13 was considered their lucky number. Eternal life (immortality) was associated with the thirteenth step.
Unity
25” diameter
Woods from five continents
A five-revolution mobius-style torus with very little turning involved. The crosscut displays a pentagram. There is a lot of symbolism with the number five.
Using Less
31” tall
Curly maple, holly, Brazilian ebony, blue mahoe, and birdseye maple
The tube is hollow and contains a string of LED lights; the holly glows in a dark room.
Wheels on the Bus
34” wide
Myrtlewood and mesquite on a granite base
Inspired by a nursery song and the 2010 mid-term election resulting almost total inaction by the US Congress.