Biography:
Sadly I was born in Edmonton Alberta on April 16, 1985 and for the better part of seven years spent my existence in a grey suburb of an industrial town. Fortunately I ended up moving to Calgary, upon witch I was thrust-ed into a very well to do elementary school called Dr. Coffin. This is where my desire for drawing was cultivated. My teacher, who had a passion for Chinese culture brought back red envelops for the new year, the one I received had a bad-ass dragon imprinted in gold, I thought to myself, I needed to draw that. As the years progressed I was drawn to video games and comic books, I spent a lot of time creating my own stories and characters, all of which I illustrated through drawing. I spent most of my time in art classes as I grew up, I suppose I should thank my math classes for my skill in drawing as I would use that time to draw. Between Elementary and high school I filled many sketch books, starting simple and growing stronger as my range of influences increased. I discovered Michelle Turner at the end of my junior high experience, the way he drew and captured stories blew my mind, up until that point I was nose deep in anime and Dragon ball Z I would say out of all my influences he revolutionized the desires and expectations I had for my self. I wanted to be like him. Going Through High school was a mixed journey for me, while I was able to start reaching out to more people who liked what I did, i felt very confined by the school system, other then English and art I was bored out of my mind. Many teachers dismissed my lack of interest in their courses when they saw how dedicated to drawing I was, I assume they thought that failing their courses didn’t matter as I was obviously going to go to art school.
The funny thing is I ended up taking an odd path to finally arrive here, most people would have thought art school right after high school was a no brainier. Fuck that. I ended up traveling across Canada volunteering with a program called Katimavik. While that program was kinda shit, I ended up getting to work at some unique places. The wildlife sanctuary was rad, they let me release an eagle into the wild, an experience I probably will never get again in my life. Among the other locations through that year of travel I ended up at a fish hatchery in Vancouver, library in Ontario and an art museum in Ville-Marrie Quebec. After I finished I came back to Calgary directionless, my parents wanted me to get a job and I ended up working for various kitchens doing prep. Most brutal job ever. Chefs don’t get enough credit for what they do. Moving around jobs I was hired as a customer services rep for rogers, if being in the culinary industry was brutal, being in the customer service industry was soul draining. I seriously never new the world was filled with that many assholes. I met a lot of trapped people in that industry and found the average person was 40 and looking at the bad end of a terrible life. so sad. Through those 2 years I developed my computer skills to the point where I was hired at the foothills hospital teaching doctors how to use interfacing programs for their charts. Doctors are probably one of the most immature group of people (generalization) I had never found it difficult to speak to people about new concepts until I worked with them. Funding ran out for that project so I transferred over to the scheduling side of the health services, at the moment I am still there scheduling for various units at the foot.
Through all of this I was constantly still drawing, and it was always in the back of my head to go into art. I love story telling and digital composition, I think being entertained is the best feeling ever. I suppose looking back at all my experiences before attending ACAD the job route I took really showed me how much I did not want to become another random in the machine. The world is filled with zombies, people wanting to get a job that pays well where they sit in a cubical every day and covet their pennies, waiting for the day they can retire peacefully and drop dead.
I want to be able to create worlds with my art, and entertain with fantastic stories, the merging of story telling and art, that is my ultimate goal.
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