In search of my smile, I left corporate America in May 1999 suffering from burn-out and broken spirit. I wanted to do something that I enjoyed. Something that wouldn’t need to be upgraded or replaced in a year. Something that would bring honor to my tribe and family. Consulting with my tribal elders, they saw a vision in me, I could not see. A vision that returned me to the traditional, and “Native Works” became a company. I have my smile back. “Wood, stubble and clay” are the media of choice. I carve Mound Builder and Southeastern Indian designs on boxes and carve mask replicas. Stubble- I weave pine needle baskets. Clay - I make hand-built pots, beads, whistles, masks and cooking balls. Out of the three, I have gained most of my recognition from the pine needle baskets.

Even as a child, I played with pine needles, braiding and weaving them. As an adult, I learned to make baskets from some of the elder women of my tribe, Muscogee Nation of Florida. Today, I teach pine needle basketry to anyone who is willing to learn. To me, there is great satisfaction in taking something readily available and creating baskets with function and artistic beauty. While I make a large number of traditional baskets, I mix my basketry with a variety of other media including clay, gourd, shell, wood and whatever I see a vision for a basket or sculpture. I feel honored that so many of the archeological parks and museums have taken an interest in my work. To me this adds “authenticity” to my art. Everywhere I travel, I encounter an ignorance about the Native Americans of the Southeast and a growing fear wells inside of me that a culture, a people is about to be lost forever. My work is my attempt to hold fast to that which is slipping away.

As part of the 2007-2008 Arkansas Arts on Tour, "Walk A Mile In My Moccasins" is a program I created of storytelling and workshops for schools, state parks, museums and public events . I sell at about 10 shows a year and have my work in retail locations and galleries from coast to coast. I have private collectors of my work around the world. In the fall of 2005, my work was be featured in a showing of Native American Basketry at the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels, Belgium.