The guitar has been my passion for over half my life. I picked it up when I was 13 and never put it down. I formally studied the classical and flamenco styles of playing, and have had the opportunity to study with some incredible players such as the Romeros, Christopher Parkening and Paul Galbraith. I spent many years teaching, performing professionally and collaborating with other musicians.

Long before discovering the guitar, I enjoyed working with wood. Woodworking is an art that is in my blood; I learned sculpting at a young age from my grandfather. Sculpting has taught me two invaluable lessons. Firstly, I learned how to feel the wood I work with. Wood is a complex medium, and I learned to use my hands to see more than with my eyes. This is a major reason why I prefer to use hand tools over power tools. Secondly, through sculpting I learned how to visualize the finished piece before making a single cut. Although a guitar is made of many different pieces of wood, it is important to have a vision of the finished instrument.

My joy of woodworking eventually led me to build guitars. I built my first instrument from studying the Cumpiano book. It was a challenge and took nearly a year, but a guitar was born and today I still enjoy picking it up and playing it. I've learned a lot since making that guitar, some by trial and error and much from fellow luthiers. I owe much to master luthier Eugene Clark from whom I learned firsthand many of the nearly lost methods of the old masters. Most important I learned from inspecting many instruments. I had the fortune of residing near the dealer, Guitar Salon International, where guitars by the great masters such as Torres, Hernandez and Hauser continuously cycled. I took full advantage of this collection and absorbed much from firsthand inspection of great historical instruments. Today I am proud to say that my guitars are also showcased in this collection.

In parallel I recently completed a PhD from the University of California, San Diego. This had a profound influence on my guitar building. Research has taught me rigour and how to objectively evaluate my creations. I apply this perspective to every instrument I build.