Artist Statement

It was at a very young age while thumbing through the Sunday paper that I decided I was going to become an artist. No it wasn't the New York Times with it's drab muted grays that caught my eye but the SF Chronicle all dressed up in its Sunday best, wrapped in those bright vivid colors that drew me in. I'd spend what felt like hours fulfilling my weekly quest to find out what antics a little boy and his stuffed tiger were getting into. Yup I had high hopes to get into low art all the way back when my wallet was still made of nylon and velcro.

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Born in Traverse City Michigan and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, my childhood was influenced by the weird, the abundance of nature in Northern California and a seemingly never ending stack of National Geographic Magazines. Not to mention a prodigious imagination that ran away with me from time to time. 

 

A self taught artist, I'm primarily known for adding a dark or comical twist to an otherwise benign thought.

 

Currently residing in Austin my artistic career spans almost two decades. After 17 years displaying art in galleries and restaurants throughout the country I have recently entered the national art festival circuit. When not traveling with my art I’m freelancing as a commissioned artist/illustrator. Commissions provide a unique and rewarding challenge with each and every project I take on. Being forced to step out of my comfort zone and figuring out how to bring someone’s abstract thought into fruition allows for growth and the possibility of adding new tools to my artistic quiver. One of my purest pleasures is seeing a smile slowly stretch across an adoring face when a viewer is confronted with something that has found its way out of my head.

 

I like to think of my art as a collaboration between my right and left brain - combining the organic feel of abstract washes and unrestrained expression, with the detailed reproduction of a whimsical thought. My ever-present goal is to harness those loose ideas that have taken up residency in my brain and expose them to the world.