History

I began woodworking in 1986 while employed by Guggenheim Museum painting and objects conservator Orin H. Riley in New York City.  We met while I was Director at the Martha Jackson Gallery and worked together briefly to repair a painting by Antoni Tapies that had been damaged in shipment from Europe. About a year later, Mr. Riley asked me to work for him in his studio. He passed away quietly two years later. His support was invaluable and I credit him in many ways for inspiring me to follow a path that for the past twenty five years has afforded many rewards.

I learned woodworking as I went. Because my mother and father ran fine art museums, I grew up constantly surrounded by artists. They showed me how to find my way intuitively. While in NYC, I had the pleasure of working with many masters of the trade. They afforded me an immense and vital amount of information and techniques. I also credit the many specialty vendors of woods, veneers, surfacing materials, hardware, tools, finishing supplies and so on, as they were always willing to teach me about materials and methods.

 My first shop was in the basement of a small building on West 36th street in Manhattan. Less then a year later, I moved to a 2,000 square foot space in a loft building down the street. Six more years and I moved to a 5,000 square foot industrial space in Brooklyn.  Some of my corporate clients in the New York City area included: Saks Fifth Avenue, The Whitney Museum, AT&T, Knoedler & Company Galleries, The Asia Society, Chase Manhattan Bank and Citibank as well as numerous private clients, architects, designers and contractors.

 

Design Philosophy and Aesthetic Preferences


I derive my design philosophy and aesthetic preferences from three principal sources; the international modernist movement and the craft cultures that accompanied it, Asian philosophical and aesthetic practices principally related to the Zen or Chan school of Buddhism and nature.

My modernist sensibilities were infused in me by my museum director parents during the second half of the 20th Century. They were consummate modernists in all aspects of their life. My childhood was richly adorned by modernism and it left a deep impression upon me.

In 1995, I began studies in Asian philosophy and arts as a formal student of Zen Buddhism. From 1995 until his passing in 2009, my core teacher was a photographer and used art as a skillful teaching device. He was highly mindful of the relevance of history and the arts and the influence that they have upon cultures. This experience has deeply shaped both the way I work and how I see.

Nature's role has always been part of my life and wood has been the principal element. I spend a great deal of time in my travels and at home amazed by the numberless variety of ways that wood expresses itself in our lives in both nature and in man made environments.

 

Biography

  • Born in Portland, Oregon. 1951.
  • 1970 - Studied environmental education, design and construction and creative writing at Goddard College, Vermont.
  • 1972 - Studied geology at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • 1976 - While living in Cincinnati, Ohio, I ran a gallery in cooperation with Carl Solway that sold photography, American folk art and native art from New Guinea.
  • 1987 - Owned and operated C.C. Colt, Furniture and Cabinet Design and Fabrication and Marquis Millworks, Ltd., Brooklyn, NY. Designed and fabricated custom furniture, cabinets, millwork and displays for architects, contractors, museums, galleries and corporate and private clients.
  • 2002 - Began living and working in Miami, Florida.