Myself

Born in 1986, I grew up in Anaheim, California until I was 5 with my parents, Cam and Cece Clitheroe, and my younger sister Katelynn, born in 1988. My younger brother was born in 1990 right before we moved to Hillsboro, OR. Moving from rental house to a more permanent 4 bedroom house, I went to St. Matthews k-12 Catholic school. While attending St Matthews I dressed very similarly to Doug Funny from the Nickelodeon TV show, and was very shy. Regardless, I developed some lasting friendships and maintained my standing as one of the top 5 students in my class. In 1995 we moved to a home behind Hillsboro High school, and in September of 2001 everyone in my class went on to private high schools, except for myself and a few others. I attended Hilhi, pursued as many accelerated classes as I could get my hands on, including International High school, and the International Baccalaureate program. Though I didn’t pursue the entire diploma, I maintained high marks while turning my focus more towards art as I went through high school. In that first year I met Sandy Johnson, now one of my best friends, and she introduced me to the Society for Creative Anachronism. At first my parents misheard me and thought I had said “anarchy”, which didn’t go over well, but once medieval recreation was clarified, it became a very big part of my life. In 2003 I took a one week intensive class at the Oregon College of Art and Craft for metalsmithing and Jewelry, and from then on I was hooked. I took another Jewelry class from Ed and Cindy at Manny Bee’s Studio in Newberg, OR. I learned most of my basic Jewelry from them. I shortly after looked for a blacksmithing master and found Ralph Douglass through my parents’ church. I spent nearly 8 months working with him until the end of my senior year, when he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and spent many months battling the infection in his right arm-pit, which of course is the arm he uses for hammering. Ralph died shortly after I graduated. His wife, Dawn Douglass, graciously gave me some of his forging equipment and I plan to set it up as my primary forge once I get a more long term location.

I was accepted into the U of O and quickly began taking metalsmithing and jewelry classes through the department under Anya Kivarkis as the visiting professor. I also had the privilege of learning from Beth Greene and Kerry. I took both intro classes as quickly as I could after realizing that I knew all of the basics from my previous classes through PCC and OCAC. After that I began taking metalsmithing and jewelry every term. The terms were divided into subjects and we covered a very large array in the 9 classes I took, including forming, enameling, casting, chasing, etching, and a lot more. Throughout my time at the U of O I began to really develop my subject matter and found that while I was at times interested in exploring formal artistic topics, I was more fascinated by medieval aesthetics, historical reproduction, and creative expansion of artifacts. To the frustration of my professor I began pressing for “non conceptual art” because I felt that I was being directed to spend far too much time worrying about the validity of my concept and far too little perfecting the techniques. Regardless of this conflict, I found that a lot of what I was learning in my art history classes was very interesting, and though I developed a hatred for essays I loved to see the slides of art done thousands of years ago.

I finished my BA in Fine Arts at the University of Oregon in December of 2008 with a focus in metalsmithing and jewelry. After graduation I soon met Alan Flashing and after some discussion he agreed to allow me to do a fluid apprenticeship which lasted every week until May 2009. I worked with him on his projects, learned to do the techniques he was using, and in return I got to use the shop for my own projects, and ask questions about process and technique when he wasn’t busy.

From there, my girlfriend of a year, Katie Stearns, and I moved to Bend, OR so that she could take a horse trainer’s apprenticeship with Clint Surplus. While she began her apprenticeship, I quickly set up shop at our house and spent a frustrating few months looking for a job. Luckily I met one of her friends through the Belegarth medieval Combat Society, Gavin Douglass. Gavin introduced me to his father, Steve Douglas, who co-owned a family business with his wife Elyse. After an interview they agreed to hire me for the apprentice level jeweler position at Douglas Fine Jewelry Design. I worked there under the guidance of Steve Douglas and James Dixon, both of whom have been in the Jewelry business for over 25 years. I learned many techniques and skills, and greatly increased the speed at which I could work, and these new skills are evident in my portfolio.

Somewhere in there before getting the job at Douglas Jewelry I was given my first horse, Cricket, who I promptly renamed Anawyn at her request. Her and I have been working together for a year now, and with extensive help from Katie Stearns, she has become the perfect warhorse. We go trail riding, camping, to Renaissance fairs and SCA events, and even help Katie give horseback archery demonstrations. She has been an amazing influence on my capacity for patience and understanding, and I feel that I have benefited endlessly from her presence in my life. In return, she gets fed plenty and has a blast playing with all of her friends at the Neumann Ranch outside of Sisters, OR.

At work my proficiencies continued to grow, and I had become the primary CAM operator, as well as responsible for almost all of the silver-work and stock jobs. Unfortunately, work was becoming scarce, and in mid July I was laid off due to slow business. Steve and Elyse Douglas are some of my biggest fans and continue to help me with business advice, suggestions, and the occasional use of their camera or rolling mill.

I was accepted as a student in the Trackers NorthWest program and I will be starting class in september. I’ve always been an avid nature lover and “ranger”, and this program will solidify those into reality. I’ll be moving to Portland by the end of the month and living with Ian Douglas(whom worked with his parents as a jeweler for many years) and Sandra Johnson. On the side, I will be working at home to cover my expenses, but if that doesn’t hold up I will be looking for employment in Portland. You can save me from this sad fate by purchasing my work, making an order, and by sending all your friends to do the same!