Artist Statement
"Underachievement in fine art", that's my explanation. My repertoire includes: a bizarre attraction to bright vivid color, multiple dimensions, twisted perspective, art that thinks, and the battle raging between basic shapes the cube and the sphere. My subjects include block heads, round dudes, exotic females, tweaked out pets, space cruzers, alien landscapes, cartoon like violence, and emotional drama. My main influences are the desire for expression, and exploiting personal demons. The study of form, mass, structure, color theory, and story element are important aspects of my work.
I paint with oil, acrylic, blood, sweat, and tears. I work on skewed, shaped, wood, and canvas panels. Some of my paintings include sculpted three-dimensional elements or multiple panels that can be interchanged to create new compositions or characters.
I grew up in the small town of Rainsville, Alabama. There were no art programs at my school, but an unseen force filled me with the need to create. I felt the power of art at an early age. While in kindergarten I received a zero on an art project for using the "wrong" colors. That moment was my first clue to a hidden fate. I was unable to participate in my forth grade balloon release experiment because my identification card drawing was "inappropriate". During the sixth grade, I created my first comic book. It depicted the social and dating scene of my classsmates and I. The comic was a huge success. My friends loved my illustrations of the girls in our class. Later on in high school I would often answer test questions with drawings rather than words. Spelling test were my favorite. These illustrations led to more zeros and very little encouragement. I also used my skills for humorous propaganda posters, drawings for BMX zines, flyers/t-shirt designs for local southern and punk rock bands. During my third year of college I signed up for my first art class and finally received some encouraging words. This was the start of my education in graphic design and also led me to painting. I have studied visual arts at Northeast State Junior Colllege, Athens State University, the University of Alabama, and Jacksonville State University (BFA painting 2004). It was my fifteenth and final year of college when I finally changed my major to painting and sealed my fate.
