I was born in the Sierra Nevada foothills. As a kid, I built castles out of blocks, learned to blacksmith in camp fires, carved shapes with my pocket knife, and ran through the woods pretending sticks were swords. At 13, a friend and I found a knife-making video. It was cool to make something we could actually use. My dad is a building contractor. He showed us how to use the tools involved in making knives. When I finish a knife, I am inspired by ideas to try when I make the next one. People started wanting to buy my knives, and a store in Nevada City, Kitkitdizzi, started selling them.

At 15, I went to San Francisco’s West Coast Craft (WCC). They gave me a scholarship booth for their next show, and later launched INTRO, a program to support young creatives. As I entered more craft shows, I crafted large sculptures to provide a display for the knives. I won Best Booth at WCC, and people said, “The knives are nice, but do you sell these sculptures?” After spending so much time on the larger 3D forms, the knife designs started to improve. Seen side by side, the knives and sculptures live in the same world. This is a world I will continue to develop in everything I create.

 After high school, I went on the adventure of a lifetime: I built a mobile knife making trailer, and traveled through California, chasing waves in the summer, slopes in the winter, and making my dreams come alive. Now my home is in the cabin in the woods where I was born. The next mobile shop I build will carry me even farther.

My interests communicate with each other. The parabolas I carve with my skis through powder are similar to the curved forms of the  sculptures. I see these lines emerge in the Bearded series. I am excited to follow these shapes to discover where they take me.

My goal making knives is to create a highly functional tool that inspires use, so that it becomes more valuable to the user as it ages. Tools are an extension of the body, art is a playful expression of the human imagination, a reflection of the landscape that surrounds me. The curve of the river, found wood, weathered stone. These knives are both tool and art, craft and design, and so much more. In these modern times, they are something to be truly valued.