Tell us about yourself:

"I was born and raised in Colorado. Growing up I was never interested in reading, so my parents gave me a bunch of copies of Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes books hoping the pictures would help; but I was only interested from then on in redrawing Calvin and Hobbes strips. From there my grandma, who was an incredible painter and loved painting in her spare time, taught me how to paint when I was very young. From a very young age I was only interested in creating things, so drawing and painting quickly became my passion and hobby. I never thought much about making it a career until I took an intro to art history course my freshman year in college. My professor told me I was wasting my time doing anything if I wasn’t using my talent as an artist and helped me get into art school. I still never thought much about it as a career path, just an excuse to draw more through the day and be allowed to draw in class rather than doodling in the side columns of my text books."

What inspired you to become a professional artist:

"It was shortly after I was accepted into the art program in college my freshman year when an old friend introduced me to the work of Alex Pardee. Art had always just been fun to me as a way of expressing myself. Once I was introduced to Alex’s work and seeing what he was doing with his life I knew right then that I needed to do that. I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and I knew I wouldn’t settle or be happy doing anything else if I wasn’t creating something every day."

Who are your biggest creative influences:

"Van Gogh has always been my biggest creative influence in my life. His art has always stood out to me above anything I have ever seen. Starry Night will forever remain my favorite piece of art ever created. I love his passion and that he truly feared for the sake of creating never gaining recognition or making profit off his work until after he died. He was told by many and most that he was no good. Crazy even for chasing that dream but he kept painting because he needed to. Obviously my late grandma was a tremendous inspiration to me becoming and artist, I always wanted to paint as well as her and am forever grateful for her sharing her passion with me.