About Me
My Background
I was raised on the plains of the Midwest in a small town near Lincoln, Nebraska. I usually passed my Sunday evenings sitting on the living room floor, completing drawings while I listened to my father read a book aloud. My mind would endlessly wander alongside the stories and depicting scenes from my imagination proved to be a favorite pastime. It wasn’t long until my love of art began to develop and flourish. Now, with a few years and some travels behind me, I have a deep passion for creating realistic and captivating art.
My neverending challenge is to find photos that inspire my artistic ability. I'm not able to draw everything I see, but I usually know at a glance whether or not the inspiration is “there” for a photo. Yet even with the challenges, I am so blessed that my passion brings joy to others.
As I sharpen my talent, my aim is to see my art go beyond a mere hobby by expanding it into a business! It's wonderful to take beloved memories and favorite photos, transforming them into a work of art... And I want to see my passion touch the lives, minds, and hearts of everyone possible.
My Inspiration
Growing up I always derived a deep sense of satisfaction when I drew a picture that accurately resembled a photo. Yet each drawing lacked a personal story or experience. They were drawings of people I didn't know and the places I'd never been to.
Everything changed at the age of 18 when I travelled to Europe. I was profoundly impacted by visits to orphanages, hospitals, and villages. On the flight home it suddenly occurred to me that the photos I took had all the beauty I sought, as well as a personal story to accompany it. So I began drawing what I had seen to try to communicate the depths of those realities. Over the next five years I took repeated trips, each trip inspiring me more than the year before.
Today we live in a world where art is defined by many different things. Yet as I approach art professionally, I aim to capture photos with intense hyper-realism. I always admire artists who give proper attention to every detail, for it's the details that make each of us uniquely beautiful. It is a genuine privilege to be entrusted with such a task by other people and have my passion bring joy to others.
A beloved picture may be worth a thousand words, but an artistic rendering of that picture goes far beyond.
My Medium
I’ve always been partial to realistic black and white drawings. There was one drawing which profoundly motivated me at the age of 8 or 9. It was a WWII airplane that my older brother drew—I can still recall the amazing shading of the propeller in motion. Though I didn’t understand it at the time, that picture inspired me and gave something to aim at. Years later, with that drawing etched in memory, I tried to draw something just as realistic, and thus Wingman was created. Though my abilities have grown since then, somehow the inspiration of that black and white drawing lingers on, and the desire to draw something indistinguishable from reality remains stronger than ever.
Most of my art is captured with graphite, charcoal, or some blend of the two. There is something difficult to describe about vivid black and white photos. They simplify a world of brilliant color into deep shadow and stunning contrast. In an age where nothing is simple in life, I find black and white art particularly refreshing.
Only in the last couple years have I experimented with other mediums. Kaleidoscope, for example, is a complete anomaly in my portfolio. Not only is it abstract, but it’s solely composed of ink. While abstract art remains too time consuming and experimental, I look forward to exploring it in the future.