Past
For thirty years I have been recycling copper and other materials into original designs for homes, businesses and gifts, and have emphasized environmental and social concerns in my work. My studio was called, Alter Eco Environmental Folk Art.
Influences
I am so often reminded listening to Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Ian and Sylvia, you name them, and cruising Yorkville Avenue on hot summer nights; and some of the coffee houses: The Riverboat, The Myna Bird, The Colonial Tavern….
I have always enjoyed music, playing guitar, singing, listening and the sporadic verse when the moment hit me. That’s the old hippy in me. The guitar went everywhere with me – Hiking in Europe & the British Isles for a couple of years; out west to the Rocky Mountains, then back east where I settled down in Hogtown (Toronto, Canada).
I had written enough fair (IMHO) material to put to music and record a CD for posterity. In the process of recording I began to think of other loose phrases and eventually strung them together, winding up with poetry!
Present
I also enjoy taking photographs of anything that has character or an interesting feature; often it sparks a piece of writing which I include in the work. I am a webmaster for TOWC, designed and maintaining the website, http://www.towc.net; computer graphics with GIMP and Tai Chi for inspiration.
I have been a member of the Toronto Writers’ Co-operative since Feb. 2011 and achieved my first writing notoriety winning runner up in a group contest. I have a long poem out in the real world waiting to make some publisher famous and many others waiting their turn.