Hey!
I’m Noah.
I take salvaged wood and craft custom, iconic works of art.
My pursuit is to craft works with character.
True Originals.
Every work that I make is one of a kind. I am influenced by Americana and Medieval style and am drawn to the color palates of vintage ads.
I work with my clients to craft custom works out of salvaged wood. The character inside my work points to my love for story. I start with a solid design in my journal and take it to the wood. I cut and shape I translate my drawings to wood and give life to the works with bold colors.
I work from small scale to six foot pieces, and I love the challenge of seeing the idea of my mind’s eye come to life in front of me.
My art career began with a sick day.
2003: You gotta start somewhere.
As a boy I would often try to copy the comic strips from the Sunday papers. One day in third grade, I stayed home sick, and took to drawing my own characters. I declared in my heart that one day I would make newspaper comics myself!
In 6th grade my family moved from Ohio to Tennessee, much to my chagrin. Leaving friends and a childhood home behind took a toll on me. I turned to drawing as an alternative to feeling sad for myself and began to create some sort of medieval-ish dungeon-and-dragons type of world with monsters, adventurers, and stories to go along with them. I was enamored by the process and since that time, I began to take my artistic considerations more seriously. Looking back it can feel pretty embarrassing but, hey, these doodles are some of my most sentimental possessions!
2009-2013: College Works
At St Olaf College in Northfield, MN I expanded from a drawing artist into oil paintings and wood block printmaking. Two of my paintings are a part of St. Olaf’s permanent collection. You can find them under Boe Chapel. I loved my time “up on the hill” as we Oles say. I met my wife in my first art class my Freshman year.
A 3 ft Minnesota rendered with rusty 1930’s era plates. Delicious texture.
2013-2015: Making Minnesota Home
I landed a position at a local shop called Makeshift Accessories in the heart of downtown Northfield. Specializing in upcycled jewelry and accessories, I had great freedom to flourish in a creative work environment learning new skills and pursuing unique ideas. At Makeshift I honed many of the technical skills I use in my work today.
I continue to enjoy the creative partnership I have developed with Makeshift’s owner & creator, Devin Johnson. I contribute to the shop by fashioning jewelry and specializing in my signature license plate wall art which you can find at the Minnesota State Fair.
Follow the link here to check out Makeshift’s unique brand of salvaged work!
My magnum opus license plate work: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox! These two works were featured at the 2019 Minnesota State Fair.
2016: Living the Dream
I find myself now creating iconic woodland wall art with a proverbial ark of animal themes. Out in front I am most inspired by the powerful horse and the mischievous fox. It is a joyful place to be as I am aggressively expanding in every direction developing new designs and ideas as well as experimenting with new materials.
I have a large number of art shows in the 2022 year and I have my work displayed at various art galleries in southern Minnesota.
The Journey Continues
As I dive deeper into what story I want to tell, I find myself returning full-circle to the doodles of my medieval-themed sketchbooks of the past.
The journey is like a winding river, meandering this way and that. As my paintings and drawings slowly develop over time, I hope to ultimately incorporate stories and comics directly, both in graphic-novel and painting form.
Stay tuned! And thank you for all who jump on for the ride! It is truly humbling to have your support.
I’m also a Dad.
My three children are a joy in my life. I love working bringing my older sons into my studio to work on special projects. The works we’ve crafted together have been so special to me. My sons and I also love creating stories together and it’s been a treasure to see them grow in being able to craft their own stories!