In 1994 I left the Atlanta area and moved to the mountains of north Georgia. I guess it was a mid-life crisis, closed down a successful commercial cabinet shop that I had and started all over in the small town of Blue Ridge. The mountain life fit me like a glove, I guess I was born a hundred years to late. The stress level flew right out the window.

            I opened up a shop here in Blue Ridge building cabinets and furniture. In 1996 I took a class in woodcarving , thought this would be good to incorporate into my furniture. Well guess what? It opened up a whole new field of woodwork to me.  With over 29 years of woodworking experience it was easy for me to pick up. I have been fortunate that God has given me the talent to visualize and know what wood to remove when carving. It has come to the point now that I am doing more carving and less cabinet work.  Studying under several professional carvers has helped me  hone my skills.
 
            In 1996 I was one of the co-founders of the Blue Ridge Carvers. Served as president for the first 3 years. I believe in promoting woodcarving, seeing that it is a dying art form. I have demoed at several shows and given talks at local schools and teacher's conference in Knoxville, Tenn.   I have been married to my lovely wife Dianne for 31 years who owns and manages  Di's Mountain Get-A-Way a cabin rental company here in Blue Ridge. We have two daughters Carla and Missi and four grandsons Josh, Jackson and Blaine and Jace  ( hopefully at least one will take up woodcarving after Paw-Paw).     If you are wondering about the nickname "TUSE" . There was a guy when I was in the eighth grade that slipped up when trying to say two and out came TUSE, so I would call people that like you know "BUBBA". You guessed  it! It got stuck on me.