In 1983, while attending Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX, I got a job at the university cabinet shop. There I learned drafting skills to draw plans for cabinets, how to use the shop power tools correctly, and how to build cabinets and furniture. I worked my way through college in that shop. I cannot begin to tell how many splinters I got lodged into my hands over those years; or how much saw dust particles I got in my eyes.

Though it was a job at the time, it installed in me a deep love for working with wood. About five years ago, my friend and I took a class at a local WoodCraft Store here in Denver, CO. That class opened another door into my love for wood working. Since then I have been turning pens and bowls for fun.

In the summer of 2025, my wife noticed that I was piling up bowls and pens all over the house and signed me up to set up a tent at our neighborhood craft fair. I had so much fun interacting with people and was amazed that people would actually buy things that I had made.

Out of that experience, The Splinter Shop was born. I hope and that you will find my projects to be simple, beautiful and worthy of finding a spot on a shelf in your home or a useful pen for your journaling.

There is something else that has connected my heart to woodworking. My Savior, Jesus Christ, was a lowly carpenter in his early years. Though there are so many ways that my life continues to be shaped by Him, working with wood is another way that I appreciate his influence.