BIO
As a skilled artist and maker I have worked in the glass medium for over 20 years, creating numerous works for exhibition and the architectural environment utilizing a wide variety of techniques including slumped, fused, cast, blown, hot-formed and woven glass.
I graduated with 1st class honours from the Canberra School of Art Glass Workshop, ANU, in 1995. The following year I established my studio on the outskirts of Canberra, focusing mainly on architectural glass commissions and teaching glass part time at the ANU and also at my studio with ‘at risk’ young people. After receiving a scholarship and Australia Council grant in 2001 to attend a master class with Paul Marioni at Pilchuck Glass School (USA), I subsequently moved to Poatina, Tasmania, to take up a role with Fusion Australia (Christian youth and community organisation) to plan and establish an Artist Colony and Arts Collective now known as Poatina Arts.
In 2003 I undertook a major public art project to design and construct the Poatina Monument to commemorate a major Hydro Electric Scheme reunion event. The artwork occupies an area of over 400 square metres and includes a landscaped platform and fountains cast from over 1 ton of recycled glass. In the years following I continued to make and teach glass to a lesser degree whilst focusing on securing support and funding for the Alethea Mountain Retreat Arts Centre and public access Glass Studio in Poatina. This project I continued to manage during its design and construction and it is now in its 3rd year of operation under my direction. The project attracted funding from the State Government through Arts Tasmania, the Tasmanian Community Fund, and The Ian Potter Foundation and offers state-wide access to glass blowing facilities and tuition for Tasmanian glass artists, schools, and the general public. In 2009 I also collaborated with Fusion and The Tasmanian Craft Fair to design and build Australia’s only existing mobile glass blowing facility that continues to offer public demonstrations each year in Deloraine.
Whilst many of these major projects have competed with further developing my professional art practice, I am now entering a phase where I can enjoy being a user of the Poatina Glass Studio facilities as well as managing them. I look forward to undertaking new public and private commissions (I have just completed my third for this year) and the development of new work for exhibition and sale has already begun.
I continue to live in Poatina with my wife Anita and daughters Isabella and Evanne and continue be passionate about creativity and community. I love helping others grow in their understanding of the creative process and build their capacity as artists and creatives. I believe there is an important link between creativity and human spirituality and these themes along with community and the sacredness of life itself often find expression in my work.