1980. It was Springtime, I was in the fifth grade at C. H. Friend Elementary school, there was a science fiction book tucked in a comic book, tucked into my textbook on my desk and I was staring out the window lost in some imaginary world when the school guidance came to take a survey. The question was, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and when it was my turn, I did not hesitate to say, “I want to be an Artist in New York City, like Andy Warhol.”

Life, I have found, does not have a linear progression, unless of course you are only connecting two moments.

In my Junior year of High School, I was called down to the Library. Upon arrival, I was informed that I had been selected to represent the Parson-Bruce Arts District at the Virginia Museum’s 3 Days in March student workshop. I was amazed, impressed and pretty much confused for this was the first I had heard of it. In Richmond, I found out from other attendees that there was intense competition in their districts to be able to attend, so I was also humbled because the opportunity had been just handed to me. The important part of that weekend was the studio visits where we got to see real life artists in their workspaces, I was impressed with the vast amounts of paintings, drawings and other creative constructions in each studio.

Non-linear life has a way of careening one through numerous experiences that are so completely absorbing in their own right, that one can forget the thread which is meant to be woven through it all. Post high school, I joined the Navy as a Nuclear Reactor Operator; my ability to draw got me through the intensive training. After that, I worked in nightclubs in Florida designing interior spaces and painting them, until I managed to start up a small Recording Studio, which I abandoned before we got it off the ground. I moved to New York City, and started acting and working in Film & Television, delivering messages on my bicycle and moving libraries of books. During this time, I practiced drawing on the subway which trained my eye to select the most important lines to produce the composition, and I continued to experiment with color using washes and wood grains. I pursued a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from New York Institute of Technology and graduated cum laude; which gave me a very solid foundation for inclusion of the ideas of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Economics into my process.

Once these adventures were completed, it became intuitively imperative for me to set to work. I picked up my brushes, which had been packed away after my first child was born, and began to heal my soul by investing my innate abilities of expression. I choose to pursue the emotions of hope and joy, while using as a touchstone the idea that everything we have imagined to be reality is merely a game constructed for the benefit of enjoying the human experience. As my practice began to develop and deepen, I realized that a journey I had been waiting for my whole life had finally started. I am pleased to be able to share that with you now.