I was born in Connecticut and have lived all over the US including both coasts.  I currently live in Blaine Minnesota and have been here for past 12 years . I have been married for over 36 years and have a son in college.  I work for a manufacturing company in the Twin Cities in the contracts department and I plan to retire in a few years.  I’m a member of the AAW, the Minnesota Woodturners Association (MWA) and the Segmented Woodturners group.

I have been involved with woodworking all my life as my dad was always building something.  I learned a great deal from him by watching and helping.  My interest in woodturning started when someone gave me a pen that he had made and I said that I have to learn how to do that.  We moved to Minnesota in 2005 and that when I purchased my first lathe.  I was self-taught until I joined the MWA and it provided opportunities for formal training and my skills improved greatly.  I became interested in segmented turning after seeing some amazing pieces at the monthly MWA meetings.  My first segmented piece was a vessel that I entered into the 2013 Minnesota State Fair and received a 3rd place ribbon.  In 2014 I was lucky enough to take a class with Malcolm Tibbetts at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking.  What a great week that was.  I enter a piece into the fair every year and some years I win and some years I don’t.  The competition at the fair is pretty stiff.  One of the items I enjoy making and selling are stave constructed travel mugs.  I taught a hands-on class to my club last fall and will be doing another class in March.  In June, I will be doing a demo for the club.

One of my passions is to support the organization, Beads of Courage.  In 2017 alone, I donated 9 segmented covered boxes and received several pictures of the children that received my donation.  It is very heartwarming to see them with the box.  These kids go through a lot and I hope what I do brings a little happiness to them at difficult time in their lives.