Frequently Asked Questions

I like your work how do I go about getting something custom order?

This is generally known as a commission and is subject to some required information from you the client. For inquiries on this click the link here.

Do you design tattoos?

This is a complex question but yes in some cases I do design for people and grant license to designs I've done in the past. I've created a downloadable PDF that outlines what is required for such commissions and can be downloaded here.

Are you a 'real' Native American?

As funny as this question seems to include here I do because it does come up often enough to include and the answer is yes! I am a member of a tribe, the Puyallup which is part of the larger Coast Salish tribal groups in the Puget Sound region of Western Washington in the United States. Travelling abroad for projects I have been fascinated that Native Americans are perceived as 'one tribe' when in fact there are nearly 600 still in existence today. I'm often met with the confusion that I am not dressed like a warrior from a movie which in all honesty has been the only exposure many people have experienced in relation to Native American identity for decades. I often forget that I have grown up in a tribe and region where tribal presence has been fortunate enough to thrive. For more info on the topic visit my friend Matika Wilbur's page in her photography Project 562.

Is your work 'traditional' or 'contemporary'?

The simple answer I give is yes. My background started as a painter and sculptor creating works imitating my ancestors style. From there I went into applying it in places it had not been for example printmaking or silver engraving. There are purists who really adhere to a notion that tradition has to remain in a time they know with the tool set they learned it in. The truth however is that innovation is part of tradition and that any art form or culture must adapt to it's surroundings and the world we live in today is not the world my ancestors created the works people have come to admire and at times romanticize. 

What is a serigraph and what is a giclee'?

'Serigraph' is just a term for screen printing just as much as 'Giclee' is a term for digital inkjet printing. In the time of Andy Warhol and the pool culture artists, screen print was not perceived as fine art and in a nutshell the term serigraph came about much like 'giclee' has for the same reason. 

What kind of wood do you carve?

As a sculptor in this tradition of Northwest Native art there are a few that are prominent. Cedar, is probably the most notable to Native American Northwest Coast carvings and is still used today but in a great danger of depletion. Alder, is perhaps the most popular now for smaller works such as rattles, masks and other traditional items of that size but has also been used long ago; it grows quickly in the Pacific Northwest region and is fortunately in availability at present. Maple, used for paddles and tool handles it is more difficult to work with but I use it least of the three but all of which derive from a long history of traditional records well documented.

Yew wood is now the most rare but was even long ago prized for its density and resistance to water penetration and it's flexibility making it best for canoe paddles in oceanic canoes.