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I was born on July 21, 1972 in the beautiful Berkshires of Massachusetts. Growing up here definitely influenced my outlook on life. This place is in my blood, and all the fields, streams, and forests that served as my childhood playground live on in my hippy worldviews and fantastical imagination. Some of my early art was based on the wildlife I commonly saw and loved, and nature is still a strong theme in my art.
Childhood was a magical time for me. My grandmother read fairy tales to me which later developed into a love for science fiction and fantasy. C.S. Lewis’ Chronicals of Narnia and Richard Adams’ Watership Down are hands down the best books I ever read as a kid. Growing up with movies such as the Star Wars Trilogy, the Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth also fed my imagination.
I had a great High School art teacher named Tiger Waterman. She was influential in helping me to win several art awards, and got me permission to paint a fantasy mural on a wall in my High School. So I went from coloring on my bedroom walls with crayons at age 5 to coloring on my High School wall at age 18. Later I went on to receive an Associates Degree in Visual Arts from Berkshire Community College.
I haven’t always been the most focused of people (I blame my artistic side for that) but I did eventually get another degree, one in Christian Education which lead me to jobs working in education and childcare. Working with kids has kept me in touch with my own inner child, and that has also become an influence for my art.
On the serious side, though I am a fantasy and fairy artist, I don’t believe in fairies. Sorry to all the pagans out there, but I can offer to everyone of all beliefs this: I believe in all that fairies represent - goodness, child-like innocence, delight in nature and beauty, and power to make things heal and grow and to save all that they love. Humanity has this power too, though not through magic, but through our stewardship of our world. There is also a certain fairy magic too, that fairy tale or fantasy imagery can create. I could paint a species of moth and translate a creature of nature into art. If I paint the wings of that species of moth onto a human figure, somehow the moth becomes something more, something connected to humanity, something truly special. Then when one sees the real moth again, that specialness will remain in the heart, and one will recognize the value in the existence of that moth, and its worth in being protected. Such goals are what I pursue with my art, for I also desire to heal and make grow and protect all that I love. If that was too emo for ya, then don’t visit my themes gallery.
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