My interest in cutting and polishing gemstones started at 11 years of age when my father bought a cutting arbor for me from Highland Park Lapidary in California. With too many distractions at that age, I only managed to cut and polish a few stones. My career path was in academics after completion of my undergraduate and graduate work in Ecology and Population Biology at U.C.L.A. and the University of California, Irvine respectively. But, I have fond memories of that limited early experience with stones and while I was a Professor of Biology in Canada, I spent occasional nights and Saturdays cutting stones for interest and pleasure. At the encouragement of my wife Kathy, I started setting some of the stones in silver and gold jewelry. Kathy sold my jewelry to galleries and at juried shows and exhibitions. Jewelers also showed interest in my stones because my shapes, designs, and unusual material provided new opportunities for their own designs. Eventually, jewelry fabrication and lapidary were competing for the limited time that I could allocate to each, and I returned exclusively to lapidary after I left my university position.

The sizes and shapes of my stones reflect the dramatic contrast of color and landscape structure of the arid lands in the Western U. S. where I spent most of my field research career. My stones are often cut with juxtaposed concave and convex surfaces and sides to emphasize complex patterns within the rough material. My Mesa series of agates and jaspers, with flat tops and steep sides, permit designers to set the stones with very shallow bezels which expose fortification lines and colors of stones in all dimensions. I frequently use double convex facets, conic sections, and synclastic shells as shapes that emphasize the complex dimensions of some gem material. On the back of stones cut from transparent material I use minimal carving which blends and fuses reflected colors. Many of my stones are large which reveals the large-scale patterns of color and mineral inclusions. Consequently, my stones are used not only by jewelers, but purchased by collectors as well. I buy all of my rough cutting material from wholesale dealers and mine owners at gem shows.