1957 was a very good year. After a brief struggle to see who would emerge first, I beat my brother into the world by ten minutes.
We grew up in a musical family. Being surrounded by so many different creative people helped light the spark in us both. From the age of 7, art and music have been an integral part of our lives.
I started drawing and painting before 10, and have – through both formal education and the school of life – learned, mainly, how to see. How to look at an image and interpret it through the filter of my abilities. Skills can be honed with time, and those skills will help drive future learning. But, the ability to properly percieve the world and put it in the artistic neural blender is something that only comes with time.
Photography became an interest in High School, starting with landscapes. However, once I took my first picture of the human face, I lost most interest in capturing the world around me through the lens. The face – notably the eyes – tell numerous stories, and I love to capture those stories through photos and through charcoal drawings.
The world around me finds its expression through paint. I wish to capture not so much how a place looks, but rather how it feels.
Musically, I have been playing drums since age seven, and have spent so many years in so many bands, playing so many styles, travelling to so many states…. Music is a never-ending fascination, and I am always struck and moved by the unexpected and challenging. I love music that forces me to grow, both as a player and a listener. Will people listen to what I play? Well, I hope they do, and if the band is good enough they will. However, I am not moved by the “the chicks dig this song” canard; seems a shallow reason for spending time with an instrument.
The more I learn about music and art, the more I find there is to know. And through the years I have attempted to follow the muse of delight. Through a love of – and degree in – filmmaking, and an 18-year career in television production, I have come full circle to the basic premise: an image must speak. It is not my job to tell the audience what that image says… it is just to be honest as a conduit.