I am a senior psychologist at a facility for the developmentally disabled in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am a mosaic artist by avocation. I also enjoy gardening and have developed an arts and crafts style garden with Italian features around my home. I like wine, classical music, travel, nature and the arts. My wife and I have traveled to Italy, Canada, great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Israel, Jordan, France, Norway and Spain, as well as around the United States. I admit to being a foodie and can savor a good meal. Living in the SF Bay Area allows me to indulge myself in this regard.

I would describe my personality as rather complex. I can be very kind, sympathetic and understanding. I believe actions speak louder than words. While, I feel things very deeply, I do not always show it. However, I am capable of shedding tears due to sadness and joy. I am mildly asocial and enjoy my own company, particularly when I am being creative. However, I do socialize and entertain friends from time to time. I lack patience with incompetence and ignorance. I can be quick to temper, but it swiftly subsides and I move on with little to no residue. I am intelligent and have a rather dry sense of humor. Irony amuses me. I like women better than men. I often find men boring and overly testosteroned. I do not enjoy male bonding experiences, but I do appreciate another man's interests and achievements. I married a strong intelligent, educated and highly gregarious woman and have been married for over 35 years.

I lean to left of center in politics and appreciate both social issues and fiscal responsibility. I despise political extremes and correctness, either liberal or conservative. For the most part I have no idea what the universe is about or what facilitates it. I find organized religion and it's tenets obnoxious, and even dangerous at times. I see nature and the universe as amazing in and of itself, and appreciate being a part of it, but have long since given up trying to understand it. I vacillate between moments of extreme misanthropy and periods of exhilleration for man's accomplishments.

While on excursions in Europe, I became enamored with the vast amount of incredible art on public display. I was particularly drawn to the rocaille work and other natural materials used in outdoor objects such as walls, pavements and garden objects. Italy, was most inspiring for me and I began a quest to reproduce some of the work I enjoyed in Europe in my own yard and garden. I scoured the web and other resources to find information on rocaille and pebble mosaics. However, instructions on how to do certain techniques was limited. While some information on pebble mosaics was available, I lacked instructions on rocaille work. I eventually located a mosaic school in the Bay Area and took several courses in basic mosaic techniques and learned about the use of various mosaic tesserae. However, information on pebble and rock work remained elusive. So, I eventually dove in and developed my own techniques through trial and error, using what information I had at hand. I completed a number of works for my patio and garden, which were admired by friends and relatives who encouraged me to create more and offer them for sale. This eventually led to the creation of Renaissance Mosaic Inspirations.