autobiography
I grew up in the cultural mash-up of Los Angeles. I came to Canada alone as a curious student in 2005 and lived there for eight years before dividing my time between my adopted home and my native one. Once a water polo captain, Disney employee and Hollywood hopeful, now I authenticate historical art pieces, write non fiction and design sustainable landscapes. I am and have always, always, been a painter. I paint because there is no higher or more direct form of expression known to man and no greater outlet for a creative mind.
I started painting when I was about four years old. I dreamed of being a Disney illustrator and poured over large illustrated books and animation cells in my family home. I began formal training in pastel and painting when I was 11 and pursued a rigorous curriculum in world Art History from the time I was 15.
I received a $15,000 a year scholarship to study film and new media at the Dodge school of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University in Orange, California. I was on course to pursue two and three dimensional animation, but was quickly disillusioned by the hiring methods and standard working conditions of Hollywood. I found myself painting on stolen butcher paper late into the night on the rare occasions I had the dorm room to myself.
I returned to studying art history and continued to use extracurricular painting as a passionate, creative outlet. I transferred to the University of British Columbia in 2005 to improve the academic caliber of my education and see a different part of the world . Just before leaving California, I sold a painting for the first time, for well over $1,000. "I gotta keep doing this," was all I could think.
In Vancouver I came into close contact with a number of artists, writers, green economists and scientists. I was surrounded by international transfer students like myself, particularly from Europe. The alternative culture of the city and the rich international setting of the University inspired me to paint hundreds of works on anything I could find: cardboard, old mirrors, cabinets and particle board. I had a fair number of exhibitions but failed to connect with a buying market. After graduating University I returned to California briefly to substitute teach. I spent time travelling and painting the Southwest Coast of the golden state: San Francisco, Laguna Beach, San Bernadino.
Then, hungry for more Canadian adventures, I returned to British Columbia with a 3-year post-graduate work permit in 2008. I lived briefly in the picturesque ski-town of Rossland, BC and returned to Vancouver to volunteer for OneCoolWord Magazine as Art Director. One of my contacts there introduced me to Gordon Halloran and before I knew it, I was working in a -28 degree Celsius rainbow factory on IceGate 2010. Halloran had incredible artistic vision, he could make the most beautiful, natural art in the most extreme of circumstances. He exposed me to what it was like to plan huge projects for a massive audience and create work on a truly gigantic scale.
I moved to Nelson, BC [Canada's #1 small arts town] after finishing work with Halloran in early 2010. There I began to truly explore the outdoors and fall in love with the Kootenay back-country. I started painting Peak Experience (which would later transform in to Fractured Landscapes) on a beautiful summer evening with both a love of the mountains and a desire to make meaningful art deep in my heart. With this piece I earned a Visual Artist residency at the prestigious Banff Centre where I completed 17 paintings in less than four weeks.
Today I live part time in Yorba Linda, California where I travel the coast painting the oddities and ocean views, and part time in Nelson, British Columbia where I write and am experimenting with encaustics. I also work for Art Experts Inc. as a Visual Analyst authenticating historical art works from Rivera, Pollock, Bacon etc.
Artist's Statement - - - > Curriculum Vitae - - - > Blog
I started painting when I was about four years old. I dreamed of being a Disney illustrator and poured over large illustrated books and animation cells in my family home. I began formal training in pastel and painting when I was 11 and pursued a rigorous curriculum in world Art History from the time I was 15.
I received a $15,000 a year scholarship to study film and new media at the Dodge school of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University in Orange, California. I was on course to pursue two and three dimensional animation, but was quickly disillusioned by the hiring methods and standard working conditions of Hollywood. I found myself painting on stolen butcher paper late into the night on the rare occasions I had the dorm room to myself.
I returned to studying art history and continued to use extracurricular painting as a passionate, creative outlet. I transferred to the University of British Columbia in 2005 to improve the academic caliber of my education and see a different part of the world . Just before leaving California, I sold a painting for the first time, for well over $1,000. "I gotta keep doing this," was all I could think.
In Vancouver I came into close contact with a number of artists, writers, green economists and scientists. I was surrounded by international transfer students like myself, particularly from Europe. The alternative culture of the city and the rich international setting of the University inspired me to paint hundreds of works on anything I could find: cardboard, old mirrors, cabinets and particle board. I had a fair number of exhibitions but failed to connect with a buying market. After graduating University I returned to California briefly to substitute teach. I spent time travelling and painting the Southwest Coast of the golden state: San Francisco, Laguna Beach, San Bernadino.
Then, hungry for more Canadian adventures, I returned to British Columbia with a 3-year post-graduate work permit in 2008. I lived briefly in the picturesque ski-town of Rossland, BC and returned to Vancouver to volunteer for OneCoolWord Magazine as Art Director. One of my contacts there introduced me to Gordon Halloran and before I knew it, I was working in a -28 degree Celsius rainbow factory on IceGate 2010. Halloran had incredible artistic vision, he could make the most beautiful, natural art in the most extreme of circumstances. He exposed me to what it was like to plan huge projects for a massive audience and create work on a truly gigantic scale.
I moved to Nelson, BC [Canada's #1 small arts town] after finishing work with Halloran in early 2010. There I began to truly explore the outdoors and fall in love with the Kootenay back-country. I started painting Peak Experience (which would later transform in to Fractured Landscapes) on a beautiful summer evening with both a love of the mountains and a desire to make meaningful art deep in my heart. With this piece I earned a Visual Artist residency at the prestigious Banff Centre where I completed 17 paintings in less than four weeks.
Today I live part time in Yorba Linda, California where I travel the coast painting the oddities and ocean views, and part time in Nelson, British Columbia where I write and am experimenting with encaustics. I also work for Art Experts Inc. as a Visual Analyst authenticating historical art works from Rivera, Pollock, Bacon etc.
Artist's Statement - - - > Curriculum Vitae - - - > Blog
