A middle-aged man with short gray hair and bright blue eyes, wearing a black zip-up jacket, standing outdoors in front of leafless trees during late autumn or winter.

Artist’s Statement

I’m both serious and playful.

I strive to make interesting things, including whimsical things.  Regardless, I hope to make a person pause and linger.  

I’m serious about making art; equally serious as I was in my previous career, as an executive in Silicon Valley companies.  But even as an executive I regularly brought a playful element. Play fuels me, along with creating and connecting.  I love learning about peoples’ stories, interests, personalities and dreams. And then helping to tell those stories.

I’m not the late great Rodney Smith. But Rodney’s creative desires and intentions are very tightly aligned with mine. To quote him: 

“I want people to see the beauty and whimsy in life... I feel the need to reach out for its soul, its depth, and its underlying beauty.”

I can only hope that I sometimes achieve these objectives, in my own, I’m-not-Rodney way. 

Let’s be curious about what we can make; it helps us feel fully alive!  

A veterinarian in blue scrubs holding a large brindle dog against a plain beige wall, with the veterinarian's face obscured by an E-collar - a whimsical role reversal.
An older man with a gray beard wearing a neon yellow bicycle helmet, a black and blue cycling jersey, black shorts, and black shoes, sleeping on a blue bed while holding a bicycle wheel. A senior cyclist dreaming of riding.
Group of five young people enjoying outdoor activities beneath a large tree in a grassy field: two are playing with a rope swing, one is playing guitar, and two are engaged in playing with sticks, smiling and interacting cheerfully.