I grew up in Colorado and Nevada. My father was an avid outdoorsman and I
have been hiking and camping since I was a young boy. Exploring ghost towns
and old mines in Nevada as a kid began my fascination with old weathered
wood and the dark patina of rusted metal. As a teenager, drawing, painting
and racing motorcycles were my main interests. I attended the California
College of Arts and Crafts, focusing on oil and watercolor painting. A few
years later, at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, I began to work in
found objects doing assemblages.
At 23, I moved to central Colorado and built a rustic log cabin in the mountains. I sort of dropped out of art for about five years and did short stints in a variety of occupations including construction worker, strolling musician, ranch hand, live action stuntman and flea market dealer. In 1980, I left the cabin I'd built and moved 30 miles away to Salida. I went to work refinishing antiques and guiding white-water raft trips. I opened my own antique shop in Salida in 1981. In 1985, I combined my shop with my wife's art framing business and created Chivvis & Lovell, the gallery we have today. In the early 1990s, the arts began to take off in Salida and I started building my pieces again.
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