I grew up on the North Shore of Lake Superior. My father was a railroad worker and my mother was a homemaker. I was the youngest of ten. We didn't have much money to spare and so “repair and recycle” was the rule of the day. I learned at an early age how to use tools and work with my hands.

Many years later while living in Nashville and pursuing a career in music, I began revisiting my enjoyment of creating wood projects before branching off into working in iron in my spare time.

My wife and I decided to move back to the North Shore, where she became a teacher and I opened Burton Forge and Gallery.

I work in iron, wood and stone. I use a coal-fired forge with a hand-crank blower and an anvil with hammer. Most of my inspiration comes from nature, but occasionally I create custom pieces that are more traditional in design. I particularly enjoy using materials that have had a previous history and incorporate them into a new creation which will have a history of it's own. Most of my work could be described as functional, yet art driven.

I feel very fortunate and humbled that what flows through my mind and out of my hands is welcomed into someone else's home.