I was born Dec. 25th 1966 in Louisville, Kentucky. As far back as I can remember I have been creating and art always seemed to come naturally to me. The 70's were a very magical and influential decade for me as a child with such movies as Jaws, Alien and Star Wars. These made me what I am, setting the direction for my life that I still travel today.
In my school years, my path began to diverge with so many interests. I played in the high school band and at one time considered becoming a musician. Then with my great love for nature and the ocean I entered college in hopes of becoming a marine biologist. Through it all art was the one passion that I felt innately compelled to pursue as a career. As I have told my friends time and time again, "I was born an artist." I switched my major and started pursuing a career in special effects make-up.
In the fall of 1989, I finished college with a degree in Theater Arts and got in contact with my idol and future friend, Dick Smith. This is the very same Dick Smith who created the special effects work for a great deal of movies and TV shows like Amadeus, Little Big Man, The Exorcist and Dark Shadows. In taking his special effects make-up course I gained valuable experience as well as a life-long friendship.
My first big break came in May 1993 at a local garage kit show called Wonderfest. There I met Chris Walas, a very cool guy famed for creating the special effects for such films as Gremlins and The Fly. A week later I was working for Chris at his shop in Marin County, CA. Working for Chris was an incredible experience and time went by far to fast.
My next big brake came in the fall of 1994 when I was hired by Steve Johnson of XFX to work on my first movie. That was Species and it started me on many years of living my dream of working in the special effects business in California. Some of my film credits movie include Thinner, Blade, Steel and Titanic. As time has a way of changing things, by the fall of 2000 I had enough of the film industry and wanted to change my artistic direction.
I then embarked in the public, private and commercial business to earn a living. This paid the bills but I wanted to do something more worthy with my talents. From the very beginning I was was born knowing three things. First, I am meant to be an artist. Second, I have an absolute love of and passion for wildlife, science and the ocean. And thirdly, I have always wanted to use my talents to do something significant for this planet.
I now live in the city of Hollywood in South Florida working as a freelance artist and scuba diving any chance I get. I am involved with many animal conservation groups and use my art to help educate the public about animal conservation. I am always trying to push the boundaries of my work and looking for new challenges. Over the last several years I have been exploring the new digital age with programs like Z-brush and Coral Painter. With these new tools the sky is the limit!
