Wood is my material of choice. It can be so intrinsically beautiful that anything made from it becomes an object to admire or desire. Whenever I can get wood of surpassing beauty it makes my job easier and the product more valuable.

Whatever the wood is you just do the best you can with what you have. You inflict your will and your tools on it; what ever results from that can be art or craft or a piece of functional furniture. I am most enthusiastic about executing designs that involve freeform joinery and intarsia (solid wood inlay). This entails precision free hand work with band saws and routers.

The themes are hard to define but some of these terms come to mind: abstract, organic, and chaotic. The aim is to create visual interest, to draw the viewer in, as a painting would invite closer scrutiny.

It’s a business. I do some art fairs, work with galleries and take some commissioned work on. As a one man shop that’s all I can handle. Nearly all of what I do is one of a kind pieces. I have been doing this for years and for this I feel grateful, fortunate and free.

Photos from Richard's solo show at the Urban Accents Gallery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Awards, Exhibitions, Publications history available here.