Even since I can remember, I have loved to draw and create things with my hands. As a child I was always inventing weird little characters on paper and with clay, and I often made my own toys to play with out of whatever I could get my hands on. My earliest influences were from the Santa Fe Folk Art Museum and watching animated movies like The Yellow Submarine and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
I grew up to fully accept myself as a visual artist, and fortunately my family supported me to pursue Art in School. After doing a lot of different art in high school (including sculpture, oil painting, and blacksmithing), I went to Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA for a year and studied figural art. I felt the lose structure there wasn’t pushing me enough, so I moved on to the Art Program at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA. I majored in Studio Art (emphasizing figure drawing and bronze cast sculpture) and Art Education, while being involved with many aspects of the music department (like the HSU Calypso Band, and Bloco Firmeza). I was involved in several shows there including the 2004 and 2005 HSU Sculpture Walk, The 2004 Junque Art Exhibition at the Morris Graves Museum in Eureka, A Waking Dreamland (an instillation with Ilana Caplan), and the 2006 Senior Exhibition. I feel very grateful to have studied at HSU because I had access to Facilities (like the bronze foundry) and experiences with amazing teachers and students that I still consider priceless. I graduated fro HSU Cum Laude, but before I left Arcata, I installed my final sculpture, “Ares: The Relic From The Future” permanently at CCAT (Center for Conservation and Appropriate Technology) on HSU campus.
After committing myself to traditional mediums for years, I felt oddly compelled to pursue digital mediums and Computer Graphics, so I started hunting for one year programs at Media Arts Institutes. I eventually ended up at the Game Art and Design Program at VanArts Media Institute In Vancouver, BC. After a year at VanArts, I began working there as a T.A. and soon got a position teaching a Character Sculpture class and a drop-in Figure Drawing class. I also taught a 8 week Figure Drawing Course at Electronic Arts.
I have continued to be involved in music with the Alternative Rock outfit, Analog Bell Service (www.myspace.com/analogbellservice) and the Brazilian percussion band, Sambata (www.sambata.org). I still live in Vancouver, and I am continuing to work on my portfolio and doing freelance projects, but I am currently looking for a full time position as a character modeler and texture artist. As you can see I am very interested in everything from realistic figural drawing and sculpture, to more stylized Juxtapose inspired character art and vinyl toy design. I see myself as an artist who is always trying something new because I don’t ever want to confine myself to one medium or artistic style.