What drew you to Glas?
I’ve been an obsessed camera collector for years and love to make art with cameras in it for CameraLuv, so when I ran across the Glas “16mm” tee way back in 2008, along with some of their other cool hand-drawn tees, I knew these guys would be cool collaborators, because they love cameras and waves as much or more than me.
What pieces did you create for glas and what was the inspiration for those pieces?
I’ve worked on a bunch of tees over the years and my own camera collection has been the biggest inspiration for most of my work for Glas. The cameras, the shutters and components all combined with patterns and textures and anything hand-drawn make for some fun stuff.
When did you decide to become an artist?
I knew from a young age I wanted to be an astronaut or an artist. Around 4th grade, my hopes for space travel were dashed when I realized I inherited my dad’s bad eyesight, needed thick glasses and probably couldn’t be a pilot … so ... art it was. I always remember drawing and I learned how to airbrush and paint with watercolors and inks and learned how to screenprint in high school. I didn’t know how to make an art career happen until I heard out about "graphic design" from art school brochures from SCAD and Ringling College. With design, I realized I could do it all and use my drawings, photography and other art in my designs. I didn’t really even use computers in high school, but I knew graphic design or industrial design was what I wanted to do. I was working at a surfshop in high school and whenever I wasn’t surfing, longboarding, or wakeboarding, I was probably working on my art portfolio. It actually was a bit of a joke to some of the more unmotivated upperclassmen in my high school art classes, that I wouldn’t be partying with them, I’d be working on my portfolio. I got in, they didn’t.
Where did you train?
After graduation, I stuck around my hometown working, surfing and got an AA to knock out my prerequisites and took all the art classes I could from my community college and then I transferred down to Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL to get a degree in Graphic and Interactive communication with a minor in photography.
How did your training influence you?
I really learned a lot from professors and my classmates in all majors at Ringling. I worked like crazy trying to push myself and our group of friends. Everyone was an artist around me so it was really cool to see what everyone was doing by day in class, and by night in the labs, studios and around campus. A bunch of my friends now work in the movie industry doing animation for sony, pixar and all that stuff. It was inspiring that they were creating whole worlds etc…
Where do you get your ideas?
They come from all around. You don’t know what will strike you and each project has it’s own needs. It’s the old signage on the street, it’s the sunset, it’s the way the tide has pushed in the driftwood, the line of that new Audi car ...you just never know.
I mentioned earlier liking to collect cameras, but I also collect all kinds of cool print ephemera or vintage skateboards… I’ve got a bunch of flat files in the studio full of random cards, tags, letterpress stuff and posters.
I guess I'll have to admit I also have a little bit of an obsession with Pinterest as well. I’ve pretty much run out of room for my cameras, so I’m filling up pinboards instead. I think it kind of satiates my appetite for collecting random stuff, without the clutter. You can waste a bunch of time here: (pinterest.com/cameraluv).
What artist or artists inspired you?
I’m inspired by those who seem to have way more time to draw than myself. Artists, designers, letterers … people like Joshua Noom, Mark Tesi, Jon Contino, Jackson Chandler, Jen Mussari, Jessica Hische, Dana Tanamachi, DKNG, Anne Benjamin and so many more are doing great work.
Is there symbolic imagery in your work?
Not really. But hopefully I leave a little stamp of myself into everything i do. I used to design magazines and books a lot, and would hide stuff in the gutters or illustrations all the time. I always try to find a connection to the work i’m doing so that I can learn something and grow from it no matter what it is. It’s always cool to take something that was just an idea, a few words or just a word doc from a client and turn it into something visual and something people want to keep.
What medium do you use and how did you decide on this?
I pretty much use all the mediums at different times. I’m on the computer probably more than I used to be, but for Glas stuff I’ll use pencil, pen and ink, and a little paint and the most recent batch of tees some of my photography was mixed in. If I’m doing a camera or something I’ll compose one of mine, and photograph it or just draw it.. then scan stuff back in and work in Illustrator or photoshop to get it ready for print.
What do you hope to accomplish as an artist?
I’ve always been really goal driven, but my priorities have shifted more to family as a have a few young boys and a beautiful wife. I don’t really aspire to have a one-man gallery show or be known by everybody. I just want to create and collaborate on things people love to wear or hold or read or experience, and all the while have fun and support my family.