My Background

I have always had a passion for photography. I got my feet wet in the business when I worked for a commercial photo lab in the 90’s. Through the years, the market began changing and my customers began requesting unique prints and combinations of graphics that the lab just couldn’t produce. I saw a need and went into business for myself starting a printing and graphics business, AKA Graphic Solutions. Although printing had taken over my everyday career, I kept photography in my personal life. I just loved capturing an image with my film-based, manual Nikon, taking it to a lab, and then waiting with excitement and anticipation to see what would develop. The anticipation of seeing the final image fueled me. So, when digital cameras became a norm, I briefly lost interest in taking pictures. The digital images just didn’t give me the same feeling as the film process once had.

However, several years ago I became inspired to pick up my camera, once again when witnessing a magnificent sunset.  I was intrigued by the colors and patterns that the sunset created in the sky. I could capture that moment in time from my perspective and relive it through the image I took. It also allowed me to share my perspective of the beautiful sunrise or sunset with others through that picture.

Why do I tell you all of this? Well, because photography ended up inspiring me in my copper designs!...but I’ll get to that a little later!

Want to know more about me? Check out my interview that was featured in the Nashville Voyager!

The Beginning of My Love of Copper

The first recollection I have of noticing aged copper was when I toured beer and moonshine distilleries and took classes to learn how to make the alcohol. The stills were made of copper. I remember liking the color that the aging process produced. Although distilling didn’t end up being something I pursued, those aged copper stills must have planted a seed because shortly after, I noticed a raw sheet of copper in a craft store and decided to take it home and age it. I torched it, I used different chemicals on it, and I manipulated the medium in different ways to reveal beautiful colors! The copper looked like my favorite sunsets!

I developed art pieces out of this aged copper such as guitars, bangos, music notes, picture frames, etc. My copper guitars and bangos were first shown and sold at the Harpeth Art Gallery and became wildly popular. Even the governor’s wife, a patron of the gallery, became a fan of the guitars and asked me to create ornaments for their Christmas tree reveal at the Governor’s Mansion!  Paul LeQuire & Co. gallery in Green Hills began carrying my copper art. The copper became more about the colors and less about the shapes. And it was there that I began getting requests for custom pieces

Custom Copper

After creating custom copper pieces for several clients, I began doing things on a larger scale. An accent wall in a bedroom; a backsplash in the kitchen; and even a custom wall in a brewery! Now, I’m hearing from clients, both residential and commercial, to create a unique statement in their spaces! I’m excited and always up for the challenge to produce something beautiful and unexpected! And I get a little help from my poodle sidekick, Maverick.