About Me
Art in all its many forms has been a passion of mine ever since I was very young. As a child, I was a voracious reader, as well as a lover of visual arts, music, theater, film, and pretty much anything else that could be considered a vehicle for creativity. Even at that age, I was fascinated by the idea of being able to take your personal experiences, emotions, and dreams and use them to create a reality all your own by filtering them through your creativity. It seemed that if there were such a thing on this planet as magic, then art was the closest thing to it, so the transition into wanting to become an artist myself was a smooth and natural one to make.
Like a lot of creative people, I've tried a number of different modes of expression for my creativity, but the one that I took to most naturally and excelled at first was two-dimensional visual art. I started out as a traditional artist, so over the years I've tried my hand at oil painting, watercolors, charcoals, pastels, acryllics, and graphite pencil drawing, often combining one or more of those media within a single piece to get the effect I wanted to achieve. Over the years I've taken many an art class, sold the occasional piece, won awards for my achievements, and even earned a degree in painting.
Eventually I discovered the wonderful world of computers, which naturally led to eventually exploring the possibilities of digital art. At first I was merely doing it to try something new and expand my horizons, but I soon found that it was a perfect fit for my long-standing love of working with multiple media in the creation of my images. My current style utilizes many resources and techniques in much the same way I used to create traditional art. I love taking stock photos and other digital resources, combining them with lots of digital paintwork and drawing techniques, and seeing what they can become. Much to my great delight, other people took an interest in my work as well, so I began keeping on-line art galleries and shops where people could view and purchase my work if they so desired. I've even had the good fortune to land the occasional magazine feature or private project as well.
In addition to being a visual artist, I am also someone who loves working with words and language. I've been writing short stories and poetry almost as long as I've been painting and drawing, and in recent years I have also discovered the wonderful world of novel writing. (I may even manage to finish editing one one of these days.) As with my art, I've been lucky enough to have had the occasional story or poem published or featured here and there, in addition to having published work on my own.
I do freelance professional writing as far as a living goes. Although I occasionally get the opportunity to write creatively for a living, my bread and butter is mostly in ghostwriting web content, informative articles, advertising copy, resumes, cover letters, and the like. I also have a gig writing horoscopes and making astrological predictions for a newsletter produced by one of my regular clients (another hobby I've managed to turn into a way to make a living).
Although I am originally from California's Monterey Bay area, and will probably always consider myself a Californian at heart, I currently reside in Montana with my fiancé Seth, who is an artist, writer, and web developer. In addition to my artwork and writing, some of my interests and pursuits include cooking, education, classical piano, and astrology. I am also still every inch the voracious reader, music junkie, and avid film buff.
