Between growing up on a farm, and working in a saddle shop, I have been conditioned to understand my environment in an empirical and experiential manner. There is a certain kind of education that can only be achieved through working with your hands, and the knowledge obtained in that fashion cannot be sufficiently translated through the written word, or with the use of technology. It is important to me to keep this type of education alive. I have disciplined myself to learning the traditional printmaking techniques of engraving and lithography for their laborious hands on qualities so that I can better understand how labor with material provokes a unique understanding of the world. Through observation, I address the slightest texture and description of a surface; I search for a relationship that may spark an epiphany, or an intuitive perception of that object or insight into reality. The mark-making systems that I develop through my continued education of the processes of engraving and lithography brings forth an authorship that is unique to me and only my hand can create. Utilizing flat files, card catalogs, and wall placement as formats for presenting works; I am conveying a didactic quality that provokes an intimate sensation of discovery. I bring the viewer an understanding of how through meticulous observation, the objects that I represent are unique to the hand and cannot be replicated in any other way. I encourage my audience to find their own method of experiencing their environment through the use of their hands
