As an undergraduate at the University of Illinois in Chicago, I began working my way through a Bauhaus Foundation program.  My early skill set opened the doors to becoming an Art Worker in the wood and metal shops supervising students and maintaining the shop equipment. I developed a slide portfolio which led to my acceptance into the MFA program at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago. While pursuing an MFA, I was able to do art historical investigations in a world-class museum. My fellowship work at SAIC involved not only fabrication in wood, metal, and plastics but also an in-depth use of 35mm B&W photography and videotape equipment in construction of conceptually based work for my thesis show at Northwestern University entitled “A Play on Words”.

After graduation, I received a major commission and began casting and fabricating a large-scale sculpture “Totem to the Twentieth Century” for Chase Bank, Lansing, Illinois. I became a public works artist in the late 70s working directly with the City of Chicago through a Comprehensive Educational Training Act grant. This led to freelance opportunities continuing my 3-D work developing prototype toys, computer housings, and a variety of small commercial products. Having gained the ability to read technical blueprints, I took a position with Jenn-Air Corporation in Indianapolis in 1984. A network friend in product engineering across town, at United Technology Carrier, then recruited me as a model maker.  Here I continued to fabricate prototypes in aluminum, steel, plastic, and wood.

With the advent of electronic typesetting and illustration in the early 90s, an opportunity arose in the Technical Writing group at UTC to create line art using early versions of Adobe Illustrator.  With the widespread adoption of the Web as a means of communicating the uses of products, I gradually rose to become Art Director at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis. The company felt that my early background in fine art photography and general technical foundation were ideal for setting up their first digital photographic studio just off the plant floor. Here I used early versions of digital cameras and scanning processes and edited in Photoshop for the marketing and engineering departments. Encouraged to continue to develop my writing skills, I expanded my understanding of the history of photography in pursuit of an MA in Writing at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. The Adobe Creative Suite became my primary bridge between page composition and book production. I published the thesis “The Autobiographical Print: Impulse, Influence and Residue”, in 2001.

In 2002 I had the opportunity to teach several Photography and Design related courses at the University of Indianapolis realizing a lifelong ambition to teach on the College level.  This led to a one-year Visiting Artist appointment at Huntington University in Indiana teaching Photography, Design, Drawing and Painting. At the end of my work in Huntington, I did an Artist-in-Residence at Cooper Union. It was here I began my ongoing project “A Moment on the Walls.”  While in New York City I received an offer from Bluffton University in Ohio to develop their emerging graphic design program, along with 3D design and sculpture.  Over my seven years teaching at BU the curriculum I developed for their graphic design program matured into a Graphic Design Major with offerings in the fall of 2012.

Since 2016 I have worked as an Adjunct Professor of Design, Writing, and Visual Communications at Ivy Tech Community College. I recently received a Circle of Ivy grant to purchase a large-format printer to continue my research.  I’m maintaining a collection of my work at Purdue University Northwest in Hammond, Indiana, actively showing work at Ox-Bow Market in Saugatuck, Michigan and I have a proposal in for Gallery 924 here in Indianapolis.