My father

The story behind this piece

My Father was made as a birthday gift for my son. I thought he would connect with it right away, and I was wrong. Not in a dramatic way, just in the honest way that happens when a parent realizes a gift landed more in their own heart than in their kid's.

The idea behind the piece goes back to my early years in Oklahoma. I met a pastor named Henry who introduced me to a passage and a thought I could not shake: that we are made in God's image, and that means something practical. If we carry that imprint, then creation is not just something we admire, it is something we are built to do. To create. To build. To generate something from nothing. To take what is in your head and your hands and turn it into something real.

That belief became the foundation of this work. It is not just religious. It is personal. It is the question underneath the piece. If we were made with that kind of creative power, what are we doing with it. What are we building. What are we leaving behind.

And that is where the title hits. My Father is not only about God as Father. It is also about being a father. About the legacy a man leaves in a son, whether he intends to or not. This piece was made in that tension. Wanting to inspire. Wanting to be something worth looking up to. Wondering what your child actually sees when they look at you.

Perfectly Imperfect is built around the idea that growth is messy and still meaningful. This piece holds that truth. It is not a perfect message delivered perfectly. It is a father trying to translate a belief into something his son might carry one day, even if he does not carry it today.