Just Because
No briefs, no deadlines, no client vision to honor — just creativity let loose. This gallery is the personal side of the studio: foam carvings, woodwork gifted to family, crochet, painting, food, and whatever else demanded to be made that day. Some of it lives in my home, some has been passed along to the people I love, and all of it exists simply because it wanted to.
This is where play happens. Where new skills get tested, happy accidents get kept, and art gets created for the pure satisfaction of making it. If the other galleries show what's possible on a deadline, this one shows what's possible when there isn't one.
Celestial pegboard for my niece. Christmas 2025. Wood, Mixed media.Celestial Shelving for my niece. Christmas 2025. Wood, Mixed media.Final image of the surround before adding the pegboard. 2025.In-progress design 2025. Custom blended water-based stain. Stains were created using powders mixed into stain bases, then blended to create various shades. In progress design 2025. Custom blended water-based stain. Finished wood shelves for my nephew. Christmas 2025. Wood, Mixed media.In-progress turtles. Water-based stain.In progress turtles. Drawn, cut, carved, then burned.Shelving frames- oil based stain.Acrylic Pour.Random painting. Acrylic on Canvas.Celtc knot- Family Christmas gift 2024.Queen-sized crocheted blanket for my mother. Christmas 2025. One of many crocheted blankets of mine.Yule log 2025. Chocolate, hazelnut, sugared fruit, meriangue. On request of my daughter.Pumpkin and ginger tart with a gingerbread/shortbread hybrid crust. Burnt marshmallow mirangue topping. Fall 2025. I don’t follow recipes; this will probably never come out the same way again. Queen-sized blanket and lap blanket crocheted for my mother for her birthday. The smaller blanket is a corner-to-corner in a 5-weight. The larger blanket was done in a 4-weight yarn and my own random pattern during late night sofware implementation support.Queen-size blanket in progress picture with one of the cats, who makes it very difficult to crochet at times. Corner-to-corner blanket made for my father as an early Father’s Day gift. Tea tray. First time carving exotic hardwood. Bosse wood, tung oil, brass handles.Tea tray in progress. Bosse wood, Dremel carving.Current in-progress project. Top portion of what will be a herb drying rack. Carved spalted maple.Bottom of the current in-progress project. This will be an herb drying rack for my kitchen. Bosse wood, Dremel carving, edge will be routed. Finish TBD. Finished herb rack. Top is spalted maple. Mix of hand and Dremel carving. Stain is custom-blended, then applied and sealed with polyurethane. Bottom is bosse wood.Custom coat and / or leash rack for Friends for Life Cat Rescue Black Cat Bingo Fundraiser 2026. Poplar, Dremel-carved. Water-based stain.Hand carved poplar. “Every creature that crosses our threshold leaves something of itself behind.” Water-based stain. This was made for a staff member who lost her first-ever pup- her soul dog. The words and pawprints are purposefully obscured in the carving. The coloring ended up matching the dog- I had never seen a picture until just before delivery of the work. Purpleheart. Hand and Dremel-carving. Work in progress as of September 2026. This will be sealed with tung oil.