Some say I have the best studio around these parts. For some it is the view—the view of the mightly Mississippi River flowing in all its brown-ness towards the gulf. For some it is the light on the bluffs. For some it is the amount of space. I know for me it is having a door I can shut then turning up the music until I can feel it and working in my own space.

It is filled with the usual clutter artists and designers tend to surround themselves with. Books, bones, rocks, sticks, objects of art, tools, gizmos, gadgets, found objects, and tons of stuff that feed into the grey matter between the ears. Sometimes too much. Sometimes not enough. Stuff from travels oversea and stuff from travels in the sea of ideas.

About three times a year it must be changed and rearranged, weeded out, and put back together. Spring cleaning three times a year.

I am lucky that my studio sits on top of bluffs overlooking a section of the Mississippi River between Alton, Illinois and Grafton, Illinois. Bald eagles soar by in the winter. In the summer the trees across the river fill out with every shade of green one can imagine and then some. When the windows are open I can hear the traffic on the river road—lots and lots of Harleys going flat out, pick up trucks with their noisey tires, guys on rocket bikes, and the thrum of the barges as they push up river.

A great place to work. My studio. Stop by and visit sometime and see what you think of the view.