I am a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. I was born and raised in Chicago, and have subsequently raised my own family in the very same neighborhood that I grew up in. As an artist I have been primarily self taught with influences along way from a host of books as well as a few artists.
I have not gone to school, but with that said I have always had a great appreciation for art and have been in the graphic design arena for over 25 years. Prior to the advent of the computer, I did E6 transparency retouching, key line paste up, as well transparency assembly for a color separator.
Once the personal computer came to be I learned as much as possible. In those days degree programs were not available and not too many people knew the capabilities of all the existing programs. So many if not all of us early users became proficient on their own by reading manuals, and hitting or missing capabilities through trial, and usage. I even taught graphic design using Photoshop at Triton awhile back, seems like ages.
I would have to say that I am strongly influence by the renaissance period of art, the technique and the detail of those pieces is not lost on me. I appreciate the passion of all styles of art with a fondness of realistic images more so than I am of the abstract. I have yet do anything abstract, or modern, probably because I desire not to, more so than capability, but I am pretty sure my capability isn’t really there either.
I am intrigued by the human form primarily the face. I find that so much can be re-laid though an expression, some of which is unexplainable. When you think of it all faces are made up of the same components, yet, there is originality to each aspect of the face that is intriguing. I hope to capture this difference, and express the emotion that these faces convey.
My medium of choice is penning, well more concisely, a ball point pen. The technique used is something that I have developed over several years, and hope that it is something worthy of appreciation. I do also work in oils, pastel, and colored pencils, with the subject matter still being the human form.
This is the first time in over 25 years that I have actually produced artwork for myself, for the sake of art. I like it, and I hope you do too.