As a young boy William's goal was to create art and graduate from an art school. That accomplished, he graduated from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California. William’s background includes free-lance magazine illustration, technical illustration for the aerospace industry and twelve years as a medical illustrator at the University of California Los Angeles.

 

In 1983 William was introduced to wildlife carving. He attended a fund-raising dinner sponsored by Duck’s Unlimited and saw his first duck carving. That night he also met his future wife, Susan, an artist with the same love of the outdoors. He was so impressed with wildlife sculpture and the people involved in this realm he began studying books on the subject acquiring a great admiration for this form of art. The dining room in his Santa Monica, California apartment was transformed into an artist studio.

He had always wanted to work with wood and in 1986 he took a leap of faith, quit his job at UCLA, and began carving professionally. He did well in competitions, winning many blue ribbons and best of show awards in carving exhibitions throughout the United States. That very next year he was honored with the first place award in Life-Size Decorative Waterfowl category at the Ward Brothers World Championship Competition held in Ocean City, Maryland.

Carving was very good to William. He enjoyed his days carving birds from wood. It was calming and satisfying. His high blood pressure resolved. With the support of his wife, they decided to move north to the Morro Bay, California area where the bird sanctuary made studying wildfowl more accessible. 

 

William has judged many carving competitions and served as president of the Pacific Southwest Wildfowl Arts Association in San Diego. While at one of these events in Phoenix, Arizona, William decided to move to the dryer climate of the Southwest. He and his family lived for 13 years in Prescott, Arizona where he continued to carve and collectors commissioned his carvings.

However, William missed rivers, trees and the availability of interesting wood to carve. At the urging of friends and family he now resides in the Northwest. His latest interest is enjoying sculpting art renditions of local fish species. His technique reflects a natural finish revealing the interesting wood grain that only nature provides. This beautiful country surrounding Vancouver, Washington allows him to combine two of his favorite pastimes, fly fishing and wood carving. His grandchildren now gather at his side and learn as William and his wife mentor their love for wildlife and the arts.