I create wooden and metal sculptures that are abstractions of old memories that examine, celebrate, and embody my rural culture, upbringing, and heritage. I aim to honor my family's memory and keep their passion for craft alive through working with the tools that have been passed down from them. When I find myself struggling in life I always look to my personal history to find answers. I am reminded of my family's rural and military backgrounds and of the tradespeople from my family: carpenters, blacksmiths, farmers, and soldiers. Through their chosen trades and tools, generations from my family were able to create order and meaning in their own lives. Now that I have inherited their tools, I use them to create art that helps me make sense of my life and world. I learned to use the woodworking and metalworking tools that were passed down to me by family members from current and prior generations. I use these utilitarian tools to create sculptures that serve as honest representations of myself and my family. I also learned that the work I create does not have to be a literal representation of my memories. Rather, through the process of using tools passed down to me from family members, the memories are inherent in my actions and transferred into my work products.