A note on CULTURAL APPROPRIATION:  

I am born and raised on the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and I believe it is important to learn from the First People on whose land we live.  I have been fortunate and honoured to have learned from indigenous people in Canada. 

It is my personal decision not to sell, reproduce, or accept commissions for Indigenous-style or Northwest Coast-style traditional artwork. If you would like to learn more about why, please click here.

 Many cultures carve wood. Northwest Coast carving, however, is a distinct tradition practised by Indigenous nations along the West Coast of Canada and the United States. While each culture has its own style, there are shared visual elements that define this art: Formline, Ovoids, and U-shapes. These are foundational. Work that omits them is not traditional "Northwest Coast" art.

 In sensitivity to a history of loss, oppression, and theft, including the historic banning of the Potlatch by Canadian authorities, I do not produce Northwest Coast-style work. My teachers were Indigenous artists teaching within their own traditions.  Their influence and wisdom will always be woven into the soul of my artwork and I am grateful for that guidance.  

Natural materials in woodcarving such as shell, bone, fur, leather, and feathers appear across many cultures, including European ones, and their use does not indicate appropriation of any single culture. 

As a person of Irish and Welsh descent, I draw on symbols from those traditions, some of which naturally overlap with motifs found in other cultures, including those of the Pacific Coast. Any similarities are aesthetic or reflect the influences of my training, not intentional borrowing.