For anyone who hasn't yet had the pleasure of discovering your work, how do you describe what you do? 

My work is to apply exoskeletons to objects, really.  But I like to see it as showing off the beautiful and strange things sea creatures leave behind.  I’ve always been mainly an organic-style artist, when left to my own devices.  My first inspiration was diving, when I noticed the way Nature makes arrangements on the sea bed. Things so very odd, some very poisonous, can arrange themselves into breathtaking vignettes.  

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Nearly 30 years is a remarkable run. Where did it all begin? 

I was an antiques dealer with a lovely shop on Antique Row .  My partner, Douglas,  did restoration, and was a finish carpenter.  A childhood friend from Colorado came to visit me in Palm Beach, and it rained all week.  My friend was sour.  Dougla sent us to the souvenir store to buy some seashells, which we did.  He cut out and prepared two mirrors  for us to decorate.  Clients came in the shop and saw what we were doing and they got all excited.  Douglas cut out a pair of large, round mirrors, and I decorated them all in white.  Slatkin & Co., a big, New York decorating firm, came in and bought them within a week.  

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Your work has graced some truly iconic spaces including The Breakers, Faena Miami, the MGM Bellagio, even projects for Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Does a commission by a large corporate partner or heritage brand change how you approach the work?

Not at all!  In fact it is the large companies that allow me to spread my wings and do what I feel is appropriate with the space.  These larger jobs usually have superb design people, who tell me what the story is in terms of decor, style, formality and weight.  I try to create what they imagine.  

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You do a lot of work with interior designers. What does that collaboration typically look like?

A Designer will tell me what he/she wants and send me color swatches and fabrics.  I love to work with pros, as they know what it is that they are looking for, and I can read that and make their dreams come true.  My best attribute may be that I understand what a client means.  I understand periods and styles, art, fads, historical periods and I try to be sensitive to their visions.

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How do you source your materials? Are there things you simply won't work with?

All  the things I buy are cleared by CITES, the watchdog agency that guards against selling and buying endangered animals or parts.  I can tell you, from cradle to grave, where a coral came from and how it got here.  Many  of the shells are byproducts–we use a lot of Scallops, Clams and Oysters.  Why, to get Mussels we have to eat them to get the shells!  If your mirror has a faint garlic scent–well, that’s the Mussels!  Kidding

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You've described a preference for shells that have a certain "history" to them. Can you speak more about that and how those shells drive inspiration?

Shells, like faces,  have character.  Some shells look like confections one could lick, and some look like they've surfaced from down way deep where the water must be black and there are sunken ships about.  I do love fossils, like Ammonites.  I suppose they really do have a history.   I just mean that I love shells that look like they have an old soul. 

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Where is one place in the world you have not visited, and would love to explore?

If for the seashells alone!  The Phillipines, where so many of my most fantastical shells come from.   I would love to visit Thailand and any of those thousands of islands in the South Seas.

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Palm Beach has a very particular design vocabulary. Where does your work fit into that?

I lived on the island for almost 40 years, and brought my son up there.  I am a Palm Beacher, and have been witness to the incredible changes that have happened on and to the little island.  I moved to WPB about 10 years ago, and I am very happy here.  I’m just getting to know the new climate over there.  It has changed a lot, and there is a much younger audience now.   The styles of the mirrors I'm making now reflect those changes.  Mirrors are much less formal now, fitting right in with the “organic” style I love.  You see, I love color.  And I am so fascinated by the beauty of each shell that I want to share the shapes and colors with everyone!  

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What's the most unusual or ambitious project you've ever taken on?

An 83-year old gentleman had a fantasy of having a grotto and a theater made to entice his little granddaughter to come visit him.   Working under the architect CSS created a magnificent “grotto” with a spa and a swim-through that plopped one in an onyx  hot tub, all walls and ceilings encrusted with white and pink shells, and Pink Quartz.  He is a stupendous man and it was a stupendous fantasy for an old guy to see through!

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For someone who wants to commission a piece, how do they begin that conversation with you? 

Depends on what it is.  I need a couple of months to complete most things.  We can get a big project done in under six months if it's organized. 

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What does Palm Beach mean to you, both as a place to live and as a creative community?

This area has been my home for 45 years.  I love it and care about Florida.  I cherish gardens, and wish new people who move here would, too.  I also cherish the tad bit slower we moved down here, until now.  The traffic on Palm Beach is so bad nowadays it’s all people talk about.  I care for this area and this state.  I feel free here, still, and all these years I have been hanging out with creative people and artists–it’s my “oeuvre”.