I like figuring things out, especially when there isn’t a clear set of instructions. Over the years that’s meant building wave tanks to model ocean physics, starting a guitar-effects company, turning a loading dock into a 10,000-gallon marine testing space, making furniture and electronics, and creating learning experiences that have taken over entire buildings.

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Art is a big part of how I see things. I notice form, proportion, texture, light, sound, and the way a space or object feels before I start thinking about how to build it. That carries through pretty much everything I do, whether I’m designing a room, making a pedal, shooting film, building something for students, or just trying to make an idea feel right.

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Most of what I know came from doing it. A lot of the opportunities I’ve had over the years came from being willing to step into things I didn’t already know how to do, learn quickly, and figure out what was needed.

For the past sixteen years, a lot of that happened in education. I helped build a school from its early years, taught across disciplines, developed engineering and design programs, and eventually designed and led an 11,000-square-foot Engineering & Design Center. The work moved between teaching, fabrication, curriculum, tools, spaces, technology, and whatever else was needed to make ambitious ideas actually happen.

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I also founded Spruce Effects, which has been a huge creative practice of its own for the past decade. I design products from the first idea through production, which means working across electronics, industrial and graphic design, fabrication, manufacturing, branding, and all the less glamorous practical stuff that turns an idea into a real object. It gives me another place to experiment, make things, and obsess over how something looks, feels, sounds, and works.

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I don’t really see those parts of my life as separate. I’m interested in the places where art, design, engineering, learning, craft, and curiosity start to overlap. That’s usually where I want to be.

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I earned a B.A. in English and a California Single Subject Teaching Credential from San Diego State University, and an M.Ed. in Independent School Leadership from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College.