Nestled along a mountain road just outside Evergreen, dark clouds are moving in overhead. I make my way through the winding road and up a steep driveway just in time for the rain to settle. An eager Colorado “dude” with grey sunglasses greets me with a Border Collie by his side. He introduces himself, “Roper, call me Roper, there’s too many Michaels in the world.” 

Roper is one of the many entrepreneurial/artist success stories that people who come to Colorado hope to emulate. If you live here, the story is familiar. Stuck in the daily grind of the 9-5 world, a person seeks a better life. But each story has it’s own nuances, even if the broad strokes may be familiar. 

After his wife graduated from school in 2011, Roper, working a construction job, decided he’d like to go back to school to find a more fulfilling career path and carpentry and wood working was a natural passion. At Red Rocks, he enrolled in the Fine Woodworking program, and eventually found his way to woodturning. 

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