As far back as I can remember, art has been a part of my life. I have always known I was an artist and I have spent a lifetime of hard work trying to hone my skills. My earliest memories are vivid pictures of exactly where I was when creating a drawing or painting, many of which I still possess today. I can still see the baby food jar f
As far back as I can remember, art has been a part of my life. I have always known I was an artist and I have spent a lifetime of hard work trying to hone my skills. My earliest memories are vivid pictures of exactly where I was when creating a drawing or painting, many of which I still possess today. I can still see the baby food jar filled with finger paints as it hit the floor and broke while I was in pre-school. I remember my first-grade teacher encouraging me to add more details to the portrait of my parents. I can still hear the other children in second grade ooh and aah as they hovered over my desk to see what I had drawn and I still have the award I won that year for most artistic. I clearly remember my first art sales in fifth grade where I ran a store out of my desk selling origami models for additional lunch money. In high school I became the go-to guy when designs for posters and t-shirts were needed, all the while refining my skills as a cartoonist and caricaturist as I poked fun at staff members and peers. Before graduating high school, I was the proud owner of my very own art desk, and I had matured as an artist, receiving small commissions from friends and family, and had earned awards both in-school and at the state level.
At Eastern Michigan University I earned a BFA then MFA, and also a degree in Art Education just in case I truly was starving. My goal was to be the next big thing in art, yet marriage, family, the house and dog all came quickly, and out of necessity I became an art teacher, all the while still producing artwork at a rapid pace. Like my parents and my wife who are also educators, I too was soon bit by the teaching bug. What started out as a plan B, quickly and unexpectedly turned into my vocation and it gave me new purpose. I've taught classes at EMU, local art centers, alternative ed., kindergarten, high school and everywhere in between. I’ve enjoyed a long career in art education, where I’m surrounded by art supplies and get to be a mentor and compass for those who share in my passion for art. Throughout these many years as an educator, I’ve simultaneously continued to produce art and I’ve become a stronger artist as a result.
Throughout my adult years I’ve shown work in galleries locally, regionally and nationwide. I’ve done the art fair scene off and on, have had numerous group and solo shows and I still enter contests and exhibitions from time to time. While I used to frequently take on commissions, I've grown restless when it comes to producing work of my own and now I create artworks for only for myself. I’ve won plenty of awards over the years, made many appearances on television, and saved countless newspaper clippings boasting of my artistic pursuits. I hide these trophies away as they don’t compare to my family and friends who are the true blue-ribbons in my life.
There are countless artistic memories beyond the handful highlighted here, and oddly, I remember them all. Whenever I revisit one of my former friends, also known as works of art, they instantly take me back to the place and time in which they were created. As I pan over a past work of art, I’ll often reminisce over how I began, how long they took, who else was in the room, the feedback I received, my joy or displeasure in the works’ completion and so much more. I find this exercise both strange and satisfying. My ability to recall these past events with such clarity leaves me to assume that other artists must have similar experiences. I make it a habit to revisit different artistic periods in my life from time to time to see how far I’ve come as I study the roots of my current branches. I continue to create art almost daily and can’t find any reason why I would ever stop.
I wish to engage the viewer in a participatory experience, one that is compelling visually and elusive in meaning. I take advantage of such formal devices as optical illusions and complex rhythms to pull viewers into my work and keep them looking. Disturbing effects cause confusion and make it difficult for the eye to rest. In doing
I wish to engage the viewer in a participatory experience, one that is compelling visually and elusive in meaning. I take advantage of such formal devices as optical illusions and complex rhythms to pull viewers into my work and keep them looking. Disturbing effects cause confusion and make it difficult for the eye to rest. In doing so, the work comes alive, and often demands that the viewers adjust their proximity, tilt their heads from side to side, glare through eyelashes, or even look upside down to find a surprise or new visual experience.
Despite their range of styles, process, and imagery, my works are united in their attempt to empower the viewer to sort out what is real and what is not. I believe things are themselves and something else; they are what they are at first sight, and also what they are by the illusive play of perception. It is this transition from one image to another, the seduction and deception of the eyes, which provides me the greatest satisfaction.
I am open to all interpretations of my art. Hopefully, my viewers will become so enchanted by what they see, so captivated by the control and energy of my marks, that they will seek a rich prolonged experience, one that is comparable to what I experienced while creating the work.
My current body of work explores drawings that can be viewed on multiple sides. As the series continues to grow, I found that I needed a name and for now I call them Turnables. To bring the work to life, I invented a unique center mounted device that allows the viewer to rotate the artwork at 90°or 180° turns to experience a new visua
My current body of work explores drawings that can be viewed on multiple sides. As the series continues to grow, I found that I needed a name and for now I call them Turnables. To bring the work to life, I invented a unique center mounted device that allows the viewer to rotate the artwork at 90°or 180° turns to experience a new visual surprise with every pivot. Some of the artwork is displayed in just two orientations while others work on three or four sides and beyond. While seemingly static initially, once the work is put in motion it bridges the gap between the two-dimensional world and the three-dimensional as the work is viewed in the round and can be seen at varied angles as sculpture does. The work is both kinetic and interactive, changeable, and magical. After a lifetime of searching for my magnus opus, I have finally found an endeavor that challenges me, excites me, and gnaws at me at the same time. The work has provided me the strongest sense of direction yet, and I’m on a quest to explore all that it has to offer.
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