Hello

My Story

TLDR; Life-long artist loves to paint; his wife tells him he's a bit neurospicy. 

From a young age my attention has been captured by details that many people gloss over.  I'm drawn to the intricacies of our world, whether it's the multitude of colors and geometric shapes of reflections in a glass of water or learning about topics ranging from statistical mechanics to advanced organic synthesis.  To my great surprise I've only recently discovered that this isn't a common trait, and along with some other indicators point to a divergent way of processing and navigating the world.  I'm still coming to terms with this but my current thought is that it's not a bug, it's a feature :)

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I entered university studying aerospace engineering and finished with a degree in neurobiology six years later, intent on medical school.  Naturally, I ended up teaching chemistry for the past 18 years while occasionally volunteering time as a musician; working as a construction job-site superintendent, residential remodeler, furniture maker; and scoring AP Chemistry exams.  I would often tell my students that I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

I was exposed to the world of art by my grandmother and Bob Ross at a very young age.  In fifth grade I learned I didn't know colors like I thought I knew colors during a routine color blind test.  I used that as an excuse for sticking with graphite and charcoal until around the end of 2013 when a video came across my YouTube feed titled "How to Paint in Oil."  Thank you YouTube algorithm and thank you Mark Carder.   Although it would be a while before I picked up a paint brush again, Mark's method resonated with how I think and it opened a world of painting in color that until then had seemed unapproachable.

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Speaking of color blindness...I'm a mild-deutan, nice to meet you.  I have a deficiency in my green color cones.  "What's that like" you ask?  Imagine standing in a room crowded with people where everyone is talking and you have to pick out certain conversations.  The room is full of sound; you can hear all the vocal noises but it can be difficult to make out the exact words sometimes.  Different words might even sound the same!  I see a world full of colors and sometimes it's difficult to differentiate between certain colors.  I work with and around this deficiency by carefully studying values, using color theory when mixing paints, and occasionally making full use of available technology to identify troublesome hues.  My goal is to paint the world I see and share it with others.  Ironically, the painting I see will never be the painting you see.  Sharing the same piece of art and perceiving two different works is a unique and bittersweet experience that's hard to fully describe but keeps me coming back for more.

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I've had many labels and worn various hats in life but one thing has always been constant; my passion for creating Art.  I've been an artist since childhood, only realizing later in life that that's what I want to be when I grow up. 

Let's create something.

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