Married to Kimberley Wood. We are artists and make paper using local plants. We have art workshops in our studio . Our home is a 40 year old typical Ecuadorian home with lots of light and windows. We have hot water, a heater and comfortable beds. We live in an upscale neighborhood with many ethnic restaurants. You can walk to downtown Cuenca in 20 minutes. I have been involved in NGOs in Sierra Leone. We are presently expanding our capability to offer the community more creative space .

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Interested in art, enjoy meeting people from other countries, learning. I would like to give young people an opportunity to travel as I did when I was younger on a more restrictive budget. We will be traveling to India this year or next and hope to meet up and share with artists there. Bologna is also in our plans.

Interests

We are interested in cooking good food with the wonderful natural and abundant fruits and vegetables of Ecuador. We like good music, viewing and making art, visiting museums and having our friends over for dinner. We also like using the vegetables and herbs from our garden. We travel to Europe often.

Our art and art process can be viewed at facebook: Papel A Mano and Kimberley Wood.

• papermaking

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Doors, Gregorian Chants, Janis Joplin, La Oreja de Van Gogh.
Movies: Gone With The Wind, Alice in Wonderland, Singing in the Rain, Top Hat, Psycho, Up in Smoke, Independence Day, El Gran Lebowski, Fargo
Books: Mysteries, Cookbooks-La Cocina Ecuatoriana, bilingual books for learning Spanish

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I lead a water well expedition to Africa. We were drilling tube wells (water wells) for villages in Sierra Leone. I went hitch-hiking through Central America in my 20's. Had extensive medical training in the Army. Rescued a small child from drowning. Crewed a 60 ton Norwegian Rescue sailboat up coast of Central America.Managed numerous ground water cleanup projects on East coast.

I traveled in Europe solo when I was 20 years old. I have run a marathon. I had my own speech therapy business. I studied papermaking with a master papermaker. Kim
I have also lived in Alaska for 3 years.

Teach, Learn, Share

Together, we are building an art studio ,community and school in Cuenca, Ecuador. We are interested in exhibiting our art world wide.

We like to teach papermaking, encaustic painting and the process for making mixed media sculptures.

We would like to learn about other cultures and lifestyles by hosting people from other countries.

We would prefer to host travelers who are verified.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We can share excellent food, good conversation. A safe quiet refuge. We are walking distance to major sites in Cuenca.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ecuador, South Korea, United States