At the beginning of covid, when we were told to stay at home, I had a client suggest I take out a disaster loan. Initially I did not want  more debt, but after her persistence I decided to apply for the loan under my art studio business, then use the money to pay down a real estate investment loan that had a higher interest rate. To my surprise, I easily got the loan for $20,000 and before proceeding [with my brilliant plan to use the money], I read the fine print. It said I was to use the money in the business that I took the loan out under or pay the loan back immediately one and one half times! I really did not want to buy a piece of equipment for the studio, so after much deliberation I came up with an Idea to make a large sculpture of my own. I had the time and now I had the money. I was nervous at first and had never spent much, or borrowed money to make my own artwork. I proceeded to create a sculpture and put my heart into it and spent the next year making the sculpture.

I stepped back when I was finished , took a picture and thought, did I really make this beautiful thing?
The next day I took the picture to a party and the first person I showed the picture to bought the sculpture for $50,000!  This was the first time I really invested in myself and it turned out to be the best investment I ever made. 

The word is composed of three separate words. Mer, which means light  Ka, means spirit and Ba,  means body. Put together these three words connote the union of spirit with the body, surrounded by light. Making this shape after being drawn to its geometry, a friend asked if I would make one for him. After completing, I made two together. Another friend casually said oh, you making Merkaba’s now? I had no idea what I was making.
So with this being said, I am grateful for the opportunity to make the Merkaba and if you have a special request, I am happy to oblige.
 
       "The Hunter and The Chaser”    8’ x 4’ x 4’         Bronze/Stainless Steel         $20,000

​After years of wanting to pan for gold in the Black Hills I finally got my chance. A friend and local of the area took me out for a brief afternoon in his early model Willy’s jeep. We found nothing, and if it wasn’t for his constant complaint - “this would be more fun with a bottle of whiskey", I would not be telling this story.
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We panned several places and the temperature dropped 40 degrees in a matter of minutes.  I said lets go back and I will go get that bottle of whisky and meet him at his house. We had a tall drink and then asked if we could tour his wife's no kill shelter (basically a zoo for misfit animals of all kinds). The next thing I remember I was not sure if what I was looking at was a deer or a dog. As we got a little closer I just plain fell in love. Little did I know at the time I had just found a 65 lb. gold nugget.