Artists Statement
The first artists were shamans, so it’s little wonder that they painted those things that fed them, clothed them, or terrified them. The wildlife that provided both the food necessary to sustain life and many occasions sudden and dramatic death. These first artists used images to try to  bend reality to their will, and in my work I try to evoke the theme of art as magic as well. I try to capture life and movement on a flat plane with brush and pigment. Surely breathing life into imagination is alchemy in its purest form. After all, isn’t taking a canvas or blank piece of paper and transforming it into something else entirely every bit as magical as the transmutation of lead into gold? For me, art is all about making an emotional connection with the audience, and that’s its own kind of magic.

Background
In the past two decades I have worked as a science fiction and fantasy illustrator, comic book artist, visual effects artist, video editor, graphic and web designer.

Education
BFA – Lambuth University. Jackson, TN

Process
My painting process begins with days, sometimes weeks of drawing and sketching. Studying, not just the layout, but the habits and mannerisms of the animal I’ll be working with. Getting a feel for its personality and peccadilloes. Once that is done I proceed to the preparation of the medium. I stretch my own canvases (including cutting and routering my own stretcher bars), and make my own canvas panels using hardboard and rabbit-skin glue. The preparation of the materials is a meditative act, allowing me time to get the “feel” of the work surface and to project on to it my thoughts for the coming piece.

Once the surface is prepared I rough in a light sketch and get down to painting.  If the preparation time has not been wasted, the painting itself becomes instinctive. Passion replaces logic and the process becomes much more visceral. This stage is about directing energy at the canvas to create a sense of movement and vitality.