This all
started for me when I was young. I lived in a little town in Iowa with
just a few hundred people. My home was very modern, but I had a
fascination with old and unusual items. My first piece of furniture
I bought when I was 14. It was a very old, tattered $10 trunk that I literally drug
home from the 4H barn by the handles, and decided to restore it. I still
have that trunk today.
When I went
away to college I had no furniture so I purchased an iron bed for $25 that I
took to an auto garage and had it dipped and I painted it and my trunk,
that was it. It's now 20 years later and I feel unbelievably blessed to
be able to do the work I do.
Most people
only dream of having a job they love, but with the support of family and
friends I am making this a career. I have been making these one of a kind
pieces for almost 15 years now. It's been an ongoing process I have developed
with a creativeness I believe we all have somewhere inside. We just need to let
it out.
When I see
something that is old and need of repair I have an overwhelming desire to fix
it. I can already envision it completed before we have even loaded it into the
truck. I have this philosophy, why discard something that can be made
structurally sound and that you can breathe new life into, that can now
become a focal point for any room?