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While other children may have been raiding their older brothers’ magazine collections of a very different nature, it was my oldest brother’s subscription to Mother Earth News I was helping myself to and hiding under the bed. It was all the same though…just fuel to the fire.

At home on the range, in the Pioneer Mountains of South Central Idaho. Age 10

Growing up on a family-owned sheep ranch, it was commonplace to camp for weeks at a time, or entire summers, in the remote deserts and mountains of Idaho. Home on the range was a floorless tipi or if lucky, a traditional sheep camp. Luxuries were a Coleman camp stove, stack of books and a kerosene lamp. We drank from creeks like wild animals and bathed in beaver ponds. Books were read by firelight and days were spent exploring, looking for artifacts and lying on stream banks trying to land brookies barehanded. Despite having few modern conveniences and limited access to conventional adolescent pastimes, I was in oblivion, or as my dad would say, "in the height of my glory". These childhood years fostered a passion for nature and not only set the stage for all my interests today, they are, as outlined below, the roots to every branch of Earthen Exposure.

With dads health waning in the late 80’s, I had to choose between inheriting the agricultural part of the ranch or continuing college. Emotions stirring, I chose college and with eclectic interests ranging from psychology and art to archeology, pursued architectural design. Midway through school, I began my experiential education that included six years in construction, engineering and architectural firms. In 1993, I started a residential design practice and worked the spectrum from rustic to contemporaries. Knowing there was a more ecologically sensible and healthier way to design, I discontinued work on all conventional homes in 2001 and focused on my longtime interest in permaculture unifying my extensive background in agriculture, construction and architectural design.

The year before starting my design practice, I learned to kayak. Despite a nearly fatal first outing, kayaking meshed perfectly with my love for the outdoors and I was wildly hooked. With a new appreciation for life and an obsession to feed, I immediately began experimenting with loading my boat for multi-day excursions. Not only did camping in remote river canyons provide a comforting familiarity, my self-support kit and techniques served as a great parallelism to my philosophy on life, and how it is possible to be light and simple without sacrificing comfort or overly impacting the environment.

In the early 90’s, I rediscovered whittling, a childhood pastime I picked up on the range. Within a few years, this hobby had progressed to tribal inspired wood sculptures that were finding their way across the western US and Europe. A couple years later, I met an unusually talented and multifaceted artist who made primitive weapons. They were beautiful and inspired me to take my interest in primitive technology to the level of being a near daily practitioner.

Earthen Exposure is the culmination of these backgrounds along with complementary interests, and my devotion to leading an informed, healthy and simple lifestyle...a lifestyle based not upon fashion or pose but rather a set of genuine convictions set forth long before "green" entered mainstream.

I often reflect on my childhood years and consider just how lucky I was. Being raised out of mainstream taught me a great deal while advancing my independence, resourcefulness and reading habits. Perhaps the greatest lesson came from the lack of artificial distractions allowing me to develop a keen sense for my surroundings and in return, a profound appreciation for the natural world, a world that I find sustenance in and a grounding that counters the centrifugal forces of modern-day life.