Leo is recognized by his peers as a master carver. He is considered one of the most noted and honored sculptors in America today. He seems to be consistently in the forefront of what is happening in the carving.

After spending time in Massachusettes, Maine and Oregon, Leo moved to Guemes Island, part of the beautiful San Juan Islands of Washington State.

It is a place rich in artistry and culture. The early work of natives is some of the finest and most powerful wood carving in the world. This land is where the burl wood comes from that has so long intrigued me. Carving and finishing a burl wood piece is the most tactile and sensual feeling in sculpture. The approach that I have come to see in myself over these years is that it is very meditative. It is almost Zen like in concept, because there is no concept. It is flow...when in the flow, it just happens, it emerges on its own; I become simply the vehicle for that to happen. The mind goes and the tool walks alone.

That is why I so enjoy working in the old burl wood. Each piece has a unique life of its own. I must feel that life, become one with it and watch over the shaping of that form. A writer that I once lectured with called these works ‘sculpted poems.’ I believe that was a very accurate realization of what they, in fact, are.