Born and raised in the 1000 Islands region of New York State, my family lived in a log cabin that was built from the land on which it stood, accessed by a dirt farm road beyond the power lines. This cabin is a living sculpture with a soul of its own. The house was lit by oil lamps and the water was brought in by bucket from a hand pump outside. My family held to an ideal – an adventure – that required a perseverance like nothing I’ve seen since; especially during those long Upstate NY winters. What I saw growing up has inspired and fueled my own sense of adventure that has lasted until this day.
My time growing up was spent studying and drawing the things I loved and found fascinating. I would muse over all my interests; and draw pictures of them constantly. At a young age I showed a natural artistic ability that has always been a part of me, and it has come out throughout all of my passions and interests my entire life.
But most of my life I have taken my artistic ability for granted, especially when I was younger. Drawing came naturally to me so it was always secondary to what my real interest was. It was a way to study something, not something to be studied. Nonetheless I would constantly attempt to capture my interpretation of my subjects in drawings the best I could, sometimes over and over.
These drawings got me into Architecture School. Growing up alongside my father on many building and construction projects, I had also developed a firm understanding of how things work and how things come together. Eventually I learned that designing and creating across all mediums comes from a similar place in your mind, and will come out through anything and everything you do, especially if it is a part of who you are.
Then I heard the call to adventure - the music scene in New Orleans is like no other. Playing guitar is no different to me than painting on a canvas. I was lucky to have done it every day for over a decade. I found myself onstage at many of New Orleans’ festivals and venues in many different ensembles. I played nightly and toured all over the country. I wrote songs and created art constantly from album art to merchandise, and loved every minute of it.
At some point or another we all find ourselves back to where we started. Sometimes it’s a geographical location, sometimes it’s a place in our mind, sometimes it’s both. What I’ve realized is that all along this way I have been creating art nonstop. Now more than ever I feel comfortable with who I am, and however things turn out will be perfectly acceptable to me. Now I paint my interests because I love to paint and my subjects of fascination. It’s who I have always been, but it took a little while getting there.
Questions & Answers
Describe your art in three words.
Work in progress.
Describe yourself in one word.
Human.
What do you love the most about creating art in your community? What particular part of your immediate environment, in your neighborhood specifically influences your work?
I believe that if we’re paying attention, we will find wonder and awe in everything around us. I don’t think any explanation is necessary for the things we observe, however the impression that is made on our minds can last a lifetime or be forgotten in an instant. Most of us know that memory is subjective, but I think that the way it plays tricks on us is all part of the process. I like to think that the observations we make of our surroundings are no different. Our environment is molded by our interpretation of it and the beauty we find can be exactly what we expect to see, or can be as gritty and real as our greatest fear - it all depends on our perception. The mind can be a filter as well as a processor, and if we look closely (or broadly), we’ll notice that everything we encounter is an adventure for our senses and an endless learning experience, forever blurring the Edges and Dimensions (see ‘Edges and Dimensions’ painting) of the model of our world that we build in our minds. With that, if we let go and allow things to exist without our intervention of understanding, wonder and awe will unfold around us everywhere we go.
Describe your creative process. Are there any rituals or rites of passage you exercise before you begin a new piece?
Ideas sprout in the garden of my mind like rain falls from the sky, but it is my subconscious that does the weeding. I tend to fall in love with an idea the second I am aware of it, but my attention is fickle and every idea is sorted and categorized in my mind like data entries. As time passes (and the particles of light fly through space), the cream of my thoughts rises to the top. If I continue to think of a certain idea over time, I have faith that my memory has held onto the strongest ideas, and the weaker files were dumped with forgetfulness. How that happens is beyond my understanding, but I am okay with that. I embrace it as part of the process. I find that when I can’t stop thinking about an idea is when becomes a subject that requires study, and I find it pointless to focus on anything that does not pursue it (see Leonardo Da Vinci).
Where do you draw inspiration?
I find that as my mind peels through the layers of the facade of reality with the intent to understand, every discovery presents another source of wonder. Where I think the magic lies, is when I reach the threshold of understanding and my imagination takes over. There, suspended between fantasy and reality, wonder and understanding, I find excitement in that ambiguity and the need to experiment; which I believe to be the most delicious ingredient in the recipe of my art.
Who are your artistic influences or gurus?
Mother Nature, God, and the amazing process of evolution that has produced the true masterpieces all around us, things we recognize from infancy that mankind has been trying to capture in art and design since the beginning. I think the romance lies in that we can dedicate generations of lifetimes trying to define this beauty, but only ever will we be able to scratch the surface of understanding it.
After learning only a little bit about him, I certainly feel like I can relate to the life of Leonardo Da Vinci more and more. That’s because the more I grow to understand myself and my life, the more I realize that I too have very little interest in dedicating time and energy to anything that I don’t find interesting. I find it comforting to know that others in the world have (and are currently) dedicated (-ing) themselves completely to their hearts’ desire; and have not only lived rich fulfilling lives as a result, but have also given to humanity in ways that will be a piece of history forever.
But my ultimate lifetime bucket list goal is to hit what I call the Michelangelo Trifecta. This can apply to many of the artists of the Renaissance - people who were the architects of the spaces around them, the sculptors of the scenes that adorn those spaces, then filling them with their own artworks - achieving a level of badassery rarely seen today. I think that to truly understand the point of view of the Renaissance artist is to create the world around you from the ground up, from start to finish, therefore achieving a level of mastery and understanding that is nothing short of enlightenment.
Where can we find you when you are not creating art?
Behind the cabin where I grew up (see bio), there is an old tractor path that leads deep into the woods. The path ends in a grove of pine trees I call “Whispering Pines” because the air moving through the pine needles on the branches overhead sounds like a calming whisper. There stands a little one-room log cabin that I stay in for weeks at a time. This place soothes and restores peace to my soul. The air is fresher here than any other place I have been, and the aroma of pine, cedar, and wildflowers is carried by the cool forest breeze. The sounds of songbirds fill the air by day and the calling of owls, whippoorwills, and wolves are all around us at night. Every day out there is an energizing adventure for the senses and a wonderous journey for the mind. There is an Adirondack chair on the little porch out front of the cabin that I could sit in until the end of days and be exactly where I want to be.
What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year?
I try to keep in mind that we are all just particles of light, flying through space at the speed of light, as part of an ever-expanding universe and totality of existence. Time is an illusion, but it gives us a sense of dimension and a way to track and record history (including our age). And it is because of that that we can look to the future with some sense of expectation, however we are constantly surprised by both our miscalculations as well as our ability to sometimes predict an outcome. But my theory is that the reduction of Sense & Philosophy (see ‘Sense & Philosophy’ painting, coming soon), is to realize that the only time we really have is this instant and it is our choice to be happy, satisfied or productive; forever blurring the lines between yesterday and tomorrow. The particles of light move together, but the time and space we occupy this instant will be far behind us in the blink of an eye.
What is something people don’t know about you? A fun fact.
I believe fear is a defining factor of who we are and how we address it will be a defining factor of who we will be. We carry our fears around with us and sometimes it can be a crippling aspect of our personality or an infectious confidence. Growing up in the country, one might think I would be comfortable walking out into woods at night; but I find that the woods where I grew up will still stimulate my overactive imagination as it always has. Now, I don’t think this is a crippling factor of my personality by any means (I am thankful for the imagination that is part of what makes my art), but I find it both interesting and challenging. The walk in the dark is an exercise that requires me to wrestle with my mind. To truly appreciate your environment is see the beauty around you, peering through your own state of mind, not to conquer it or absolve yourself of your nature. It is to find balance and bring excitement into your experience - this very instant that your particles of light occupy this space and time - and to learn constantly and enjoy your adventure here on Earth.
