Daybreak, powder-coated steel, 2022 This work was made for a dear collector, Martin Wescott Smith. Martin passed away in 2024 but his devotion to supporting North Carolina Artists and his passion to create a way to raise awareness of regional artists while raising funds for cancer research is an ongoing inspiration. I have never had someone take my work in some ways more seriously than myself as Martin seemed to. He sent me an email after the work was installed, " Daybreak was an important gift purchased to remind me to look, value and cherish each day... so know that I wake up, look out the window, see Daybreak, smile, and remember to be better NOW, to appreciate NOW and find something to love NOW." Not long before he passed we were collaborating on a dream of his, to create a foundation to support artists and cancer research. That is all in limbo at the moment, as I do not know who may continue his work, but I hope to contribute to his passion project and will certainly think differently and work towards these goals he had, in my own practice in the meantime. I have another work that was originally intended for him, but that was not completed before he passed. I plan to finish it this year and either find a place to install it with a memorial to him and his vision or somehow contribute to the UNC Cancer Center in his name.
Daybreak, powder-coated steel, 2022
Orange Bend, powder-coated steel, 2021
Orange Bend, powder-coated steel, 2021
Indirect Means, powder-coated steel, 2018
Indirect Means, powder-coated steel, 2018
Indirect Means, powder-coated steel, 2018
Lift, powder-coated steel, 2016
Lift, powder-coated steel, 2016
Lift, powder-coated steel, 2016
Dream Machine: Part 2, powder-coated steel. 2016
Rib, powder-coated steel, 2015 and updated 2017
Stave, powder-coated steel, 2015 and updated 2017
Blue Bell, painted steel, 2015
100 Foot Necklace - painted blue "for Andy" 2016 I created this "necklace" with the intention of installing it in places of personal significance in relation to my growth as an artist. You can read about it under the gold version further along in the slide show. I painted it blue after my dear mentor and chair of my thesis committee, Andy Dunnill suddenly died the year after I completed my MFA. Andy taught me almost everything I know about sculpture, or rather he gave me the foundation in sculpture from which I have developed and grown. I took for granted the access I had to his knowledge and had assumed I would have years to seek his brutally honest feedback, whenever I needed it. He always thought it should be blue, I agree now that I see it, only I need a better installation shot to prove it. Hand formed and fabricated mild steel, enamel paint.
100 Foot Necklace, painted steel, 2014, repainted 2016
100 Foot Necklace, painted steel, 2014, repainted 2016
Scope, oiled steel, 2015
Weatherspoon Art Museum, May 2015 This work is a series of openly constructed, linear steel forms which in contrast to their material, appear surprisingly delicate, like line drawings in space. This work considers the transitions between the internal and external, specifically related to aspects of memory and the mind: how the internal, that which would be the contained, protected, carried, personal, and the external, the container, protector, carrier, begin to interweave and overlap in time. Outlining bizarre cage-like forms signals the trace of a desire to contain and protect the fragile and fleeting, while also emphasizing the variation among our internal processes of experience and the pliable quality of our imaginations.
Steel Swing, Welded mild steel. 2015 - sold/private collection Weatherspoon Art Museum
Blue Bell, Welded mild steel, paint. 2015 Weatherspoon Art Museum
Scarlet Fin, welded mild steel, paint. 2015 - sold, private collection Weatherspoon Art Museum
Blue Bell, welded steel, paint, 2015 Weatherspoon Art Museum
Blue Bell, welded steel, paint, 2015 Promo Image for News and Record, 2015
100 Foot Necklace, welded steel, painted, gold leaf, 2014 I created this "necklace" with the intention of installing it in places of personal significance in relation to my growth as an artist. The place which is photographed here is the Leo Jenkins Fine Arts Center, on the campus of East Carolina University, where I first was introduced to jewelry fabrication and metalwork during my undergrad, I took a 7 year break between my BFA and MFA, so to return to the location I spent my formative years to install this work, as a monument to my artistic growth was exciting. The necklace has also been installed at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Lyndon Street Artworks were I had a public jewelry studio for a few years prior to graduate school and The Center for Visual Artists in Greensboro where I had my first experience working on a non-profit board of directors. I have since served on the board of Tri State Sculptors for several years where my most recent and final role as president ended in 2025.
100 Foot Necklace, welded steel, painted, gold leaf, 2014 I created this "necklace" with the intention of installing it in places of personal significance in relation to my growth as an artist. The place which is photographed here is the Leo Jenkins Fine Arts Center, on the campus of East Carolina University, where I first was introduced to jewelry fabrication and metalwork during my undergrad, I took a 7 year break between my BFA and MFA, so to return to the location I spent my formative years to install this work, as a monument to my artistic growth was exciting. The necklace has also been installed at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Lyndon Street Artworks were I had a public jewelry studio for a few years prior to graduate school and The Center for Visual Artists in Greensboro where I had my first experience working on a non-profit board of directors. I have since served on the board of Tri State Sculptors for several years where my most recent and final role as president ended in 2025.
100 Foot Necklace, welded steel, painted, gold leaf, 2014 I created this "necklace" with the intention of installing it in places of personal significance in relation to my growth as an artist. The place which is photographed here is the Leo Jenkins Fine Arts Center, on the campus of East Carolina University, where I first was introduced to jewelry fabrication and metalwork during my undergrad, I took a 7 year break between my BFA and MFA, so to return to the location I spent my formative years to install this work, as a monument to my artistic growth was exciting. The necklace has also been installed at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Lyndon Street Artworks were I had a public jewelry studio for a few years prior to graduate school and The Center for Visual Artists in Greensboro where I had my first experience working on a non-profit board of directors. I have since served on the board of Tri State Sculptors for several years where my most recent and final role as president ended in 2025.