I began working hot glass at the furnace in 2001 and gained valuable experience working for Josh Simpson and the MIT Glass Lab, among others. I've always had an eye for detail and enjoys working for himself, so the switch to flameworking was a logical step. I began sculpting glass with borosilicate but preferred the more full color palette and longer working time of soft glass, after having become accustomed to it at the furnace.

In 2005, I was afforded the chance of a lifetime to study with Vittorio Costantini and Lucio Bubacco on the Venetian island of Murano. Upon gaining knowledge of the Italian technique of sculpting soft glass, I focused my attention solely on creation in this medium, primarily making glass insects for the next two years. After becoming comfortable with these techniques, I began branching out to other phyla of the animal kingdom. As a result of my experience, I was again given the wonderful opportunity to work with Vittorio Costanini, but this time as his teaching assistant at the 2008 ISGB Gathering in Oakland, California.

I am inspired by nature and seek to instill this curiosity in others through the re-creation of the more spectacular examples of the animal world, especially insects and birds. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, I spent my days exploring the space beneath logs and rocks or reading science fiction. As a result the shapes and colors of the natural world, as well as my own wacky imagination, are the primary sources for my work.

With my glass beetles for example, I try to capture and mimic an actual species with intricate detail on the tiny legs and thorax. While in other pieces, I attempt to bring into being creatures from my inner reality or a dream. In some cases I merge the fantastical with the real through choice of color palette or by referencing familiar images in a mythical work. Regardless of the end result, I find great joy in sculpting glass - witnessing the transformation of a brittle and cold substance to a molten and pliable material then back to a solid form again.