A Brief History

Depending on your point of view (mine varies from day to day) I had the blessing (or curse) of being raised by artists. My mom is a landscape painter and my dad is a professional sculptor. This being the case, I was raised around art and my path as an artist was pretty much written in stone from birth. In fact, shortly after I was born, my mom apparently showed my father my hands and said, 'These are the hands of a sculptor.' Well I'm not one to believe in fate but genetics don't lie. I've always been involved in art in some capacity. As I mentioned earlier, I started skating in 1994 and I was instantly obsessed with it. I skated as much as I could and eventually became friends with a small group of skateboarders in high school. Kind of funny to think back to this time period when skating was still rather unaccepted. We were constantly harassed in school by the 'jocks' and 'preppies'. Of course we thrived on this and it fueled our punk rock attitudes. Remember when skate boarding was synonomous with Screeching Weasel and NOFX? Those were the days. So our little group donned baggy clothes and skated constantly. It was in many ways the best time of my life. I grew up in the suburbs of Philly and the closest skate shop was Fairman's in West Chester Pa. Fairman's sponsered some big names in skating including Bam Margera. It wasn't uncommon to stop by Fairman's on a weekend and spot Kerry Getz or Mike Maldanado. The skate scene was growing quickly by this time and I'm glad I was part of it. Of course I wanted to be sponsored but I was just never good enough. My skating career was highlighted by a couple sprained ankles, and a warrant for my arrest issued because I hadn't paid a fine for skatebaording where I wasn't supposed to. My friends and I made some films of our exploits and we tried to take this stuff seriously. At the very least, I'm glad it was documented. The skating is not spectacular but I suppose it wasn't bad for 2000 or so. Anyway it's proof of the fun I had. Here's me in our last home brewed video. And yes I push MONGO! LOL

Even though I failed art in high school (due in large part to skateboarding) I've always loved creating things and the Independence that goes along with the creative act. When I left high school, I spent the next year skateboarding and working at a department store. I was pretty directionless. Eventually, at my mom's urging I enrolled for classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. As usual Mom was right, and I fell in love with art school and the creative atmosphere it offered. The Academy of Fine Art in Philly is very traditional art school and this is where I learned to proficiently sculpt human anatomy. Upon graduation, I once again fell in to the doldrums. How could I possibly apply my artistic education in a practical sense to make a living. This time my dad stepped in and suggested that I attempt to break in to the commercial sculpting field. I got my portfolio together and was eventually hired by McFarlane Toys in June of 2003. My employment at McFarlane Toys gave me the opportunity to learn the commerical side of fine art. I learned how to add the polish and detail to a piece of art and make it producible on a larger scale. Basically creating fine art for the masses. It's a long tedious process