The natural world is a major source of my inspiration.  Beetles, budding plants, shells, seed pods, or lava flows are forms that I use in a more universal way without directly referencing a specific source. The merging of these forms often results in sensual objects reminiscent of nature that leave the mind curious, as it grasps for what is familiar yet excited by what is peculiar. As I developed my current body of work, I imagined these objects evolving into large, aerial yet lightweight sculptures as well as sensual architectural elements. The process that is ongoing is to scan an object (made of clay or found) and reshape it in a modeling program. I work with prototypes to find the material and process that fit the form. This body of work is evolving and the possibilities are exciting, constantly changing as I work with the materials and processes. The scale and colorful nature of these sculptures create a physically and visually engaging environment that will ignite the viewer's imagination.

I am also inspired by other artists, architects, and innovators. Henry Mercer was an innovative tile maker in Doylestown, PA. He built several all concrete buildings using concrete domes. He used carpet to separate the concrete from the mounted earth that created the dome shape. In one place he used canvas and it sagged badly but was beautiful! I was working with hollow ceramic shapes filled with concrete at the time I observed this. The challenge was how to integrate these beautiful bulges into my work. The result was a large body of work that involved fabric-formed concrete in a process that I developed very different from Mercer's.

I have also been inspired by Antoni Gaudi, we share the love of beauty in nature and incorporating it into our creations. The love of the curve is also shared and can be seen in much of my sculpture, there are very few straight lines. I visited Barcelona, Spain to see his work which is inspirational and uplifting.

In 2015, I visited the concrete sculpture garden, Los Pozas (32-200 architectural sculptures, depending on how you count), in Xilitla, Mexico, which was created by Edward James with help of 40-100 workers between 1964 and 1986. My traveling partner said, “when Chip arrived at Los Pozas, he had an out of body experience.” The result of that visit is the sculpture “Ode to Edward James”. Although, both James and I work in concrete, our process are very different. What I took from James was the dense positioning of totally non-functional sculptural architectural elements. I see the “Ode to Edward James” sculpture as an invitation for the visitor to engage their imagination.

Additionally, Alexander Calder has been an inspiration from childhood, I grew up going to the Pittsburgh Airport where I was intrigued by his large innovative mobile that hangs there.

My work is about engaging the imagination, mine and the viewer.