Born in Syracuse New York, although only lived there for six months. My father was in the Air Force so we were constantly on the move. Moved all over the States from Texas, California, Nebraska just to name a few places. Lived overseas in Japan and Germany. I often get asked “That must have been hard on you as a child.” My response is always “I didn’t know any better and just assumed that everyone moved around as much as I did.” It wasn’t till we moved back to the States to Nebraska that I enrolled into the schools art program and was exposed to oil painting, water colors and sculpturing. After graduating school moved to the next chapter in life.
I spent the next twenty-five years working in the restaurant business. Starting out as a dishwasher at the age of thirteen and working my was to chef of a locally famous Texas restaurant. Then continued to work my way up to General Manager. I did miss the arts but the plates of food was my canvas. In between all of this worked on my pastry skills, another form of artistry.
Now everything has come back full circle and back into the arts. I fell in love painting with resin. I take the resin mix it with acrylic paint, powder pigments, spray paint or alcohol inks. Really anything that will tint the resin and achieve the desired effect. Each of the pigments give the resin a different weight and volatility that enables me to get depth and texture. My work is not only fluid but also structured. Inspiration comes from my travels and scuba diving. It could be from the Black Forrest when we lived in Germany or from my resent trip to Cartagena, Colombia taking in the brightly colored buildings. The corals that surround the Blue Hole off the shores of Belize, to the beautiful wildlife in and out of the water of the Galápagos Islands. I also design and build functional art furniture. It could be a classic box chair with a twist to a floor lamp with Japanese influences.