downloadable artist statement and porfolio as a pdf (approx 6 mb - takes a minute).
Born 1975, Harrisburg, IL
Lives and works in Atlanta, GA
I grew up in the 80s and 90s and hit my head a lot. Never receiving any formal art training, I've drawn and painted for as long as I can remember. To this day, I doodle constantly; usually when I should be doing other more productive things. My influences include a wide range of art forms: tattoos, graffiti, pop art, movies, photography, comic books, music, and architecture. Other artists I admire that undoubtedly influence my work include Michi, Jeff Soto, and Erik Otto. When not painting, I dork out at my day job as a software developer.
From a young age I've been very interested in creating art of man-made objects such as vehicles, machines, buildings, and robots. This fascination with technology and science led to my career as a computer programmer. Although I paint other subjects, robots pop up in almost all my art. I try to convey emotions through the normally indifferent countenance of robots. They parallel aspects of myself in certain ways. Most of my time spent working on a painting is occupied with building layered, organic, worlds to drop my robots down into. I work primarily in acrylics and spraypaint, but I use whatever medium is at my disposal to achieve the look I'm going for. Sometimes I sketch out a painting beforehand, but I usually start directly on the canvas and let the work drive itself. I've recently starting experimenting with assemblages of wood and other materials such as old computer disks. It's an interesting process to work on smaller pieces and then combine those components into larger works.
I've sometimes struggled with a simple way to describe my work, but have recently settled on "adorably dark" pop art. I try not to take the creation of art too seriously, and yet my paintings often portray sadness, melancholy, or other dark emotions. My main goals in art are to enjoy creating it and to have others enjoy viewing it.
mr. purty is the dog.
a few places/events that i've shown my art at:
2009 - sublime donuts - atlanta, ga.
2009 - young blood gallery - atlanta, ga.
2009 - on deck artshow/auction - missoula, mt.
2009 - 219: the show - atlanta, ga.
2009 - parkgrounds - atlanta, ga.
2009 - aurora coffee - atlanta, ga.
2008 - beep beep gallery - atlanta, ga.
2008 - san francisco coffee - atlanta, ga.
2008 - southern drawl art gallery - atlanta, ga.
2008 - the gallery at east atlanta tattoo - atlanta, ga.
2008 - mint gallery - atlanta, ga.
2008 - keep-a-breast
2008 - dresscodes - atlanta, ga.
2007 - the gallery at east atlanta tattoo - atlanta, ga.
2007 - mint gallery - atlanta, ga.
2007 - young blood gallery - atlanta, ga.
2007 - artists to the rescue - atlanta, ga.
2007 - keep-a-breast
2007 - yo yo - atlanta, ga.
2007 - beep beep gallery - atlanta, ga.
2007 - mint gallery - atlanta, ga.
2006 - shuteye records - atlanta, ga.
2006 - artists to the rescue - atlanta, ga.
2006 - urban grind - atlanta, ga.
2006 - on deck artshow/auction - missoula, mt.
2006 - beep beep gallery - atlanta, ga.
2006 - alternative apparel - atlanta, ga.
2006 - radial restaurant/artspace - atlanta, ga.
2006 - bill hallman store - atlanta, ga.
2006 - young blood gallery - atlanta, ga.
2006 - chairish the future auction - atlanta, ga.
2005 - young blood gallery - atlanta, ga.
2005 - artists to the rescue - atlanta, ga.
also, the seen gallery in oakhurst (decatur, ga) regularly has my artwork for sale.