Military Service: Navy
Service Status: Veteran
State: AZ
About the Artist:
I am a professional storybook artist, illustrator, and writer working in fantasy, dreamcore, and strange corners of the American West. My style is what I call jolly melancholy: whimsical, narrative, slightly peculiar, and never entirely without a shadow. It is how I navigate the world. My Western paintings, for example, are full of absurdity, theatricality, and an endless supply of shady characters. I enjoy it all.
I have always created stories around the things I see, and I approach my painted characters the same way. Every one of them has a past, a private life, and usually a motive. I began by painting pet portraits, but I soon realized I was injecting far more personality and narrative into the animals than a traditional portrait required. That instinct stayed with me. Now I am surrounded by odd personalities who have wandered into my work.
I have been both formally taught and self-taught, and I hope never to do anything other than paint, make stories, and bring characters to life.
