Artwork
Art is something I like to do to relax, it gives me a little “me” time and paus some bills. I seem to have 3 styles of paintings. The first is realistic. The second is illustrative. and the third is… my crazy creative style. Click here to see all paintings for sale.
Paintings
I’ve always painted. In fact, my mom still has art work from my pre-kindergarten days hanging in her office. In high school I entered a contest and turned an old junk car into a rolling mural. I also spent countless hours painting at my parents’ art studio… where I even fooled a few producers in thinking I was a college art student. Then when I finally got to collage for relaxation and enjoyment, I would take up a brush. So I guess you could say painting and creating has always been a part of my life and I’ve always enjoyed making things-I’m not good at sitting still.
I still paint whenever I get a change, and a number of these painting are available for purchase. If one speaks to you, I’d be honored for it to find a place in your home.
Below is my highschool work i did at Churchill and Interlochen.
Sets
Building sets was part of everyday life growing up. My parents owned Artistic Studios, where they built sets for television, commercials, and feature films, so after school I usually headed straight to the shop. Looking back, that’s where I learned to build things, paint and work with my hands. It was pretty neat to see something I’d help build show up on TV. Probably that’s where my love for filmmaking really began.
One thing I learned early is that most sets are temporary. We’d spend days or even weeks building the sets and gathering props, install it at a studio, watch it being filmed, then tear everything down and move on to the next project. We were usually too busy to stop and take pictures, so these are a few of the sets that managed to survive. All great memories.
Sculpture
I really took an interest in sculpting when I attended Interlochen High School. I had a three hour sculpting class’s every day for the entire school year. Mr. Parsons taught us not only how to sculpt, but how to see things in three dimensions. I had done quite a bit of sculpting at Artistic Studios, but after my year at Interlochen, I believe I became a much better sculptor. How could I not, when I was sculpting every day.
Graphic Design
I put the entire Adobe Suite to work. Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design, Premiere Pro and Aftereffects. I nasally start with hand drawings then finalize them and put them to scale in the computer.
I like to use frame forge to do 3D storyboards.
While visiting an art gallery in Frankenmouth, my dad fell in love with a Japanese wind chime. It was about a foot tall and had an $8,000 price tag. I told him I could build something like that for his backyard. A year later, just before his birthday, my mom reminded me of the promise. So I headed to my shop in Grand Rapids and got to work. My version turned out a little different: 18 feet tall, 12 foot wide, with three enormous gongs. It was definitely bigger than the one in the gallery, but a promise was kept. Best of all Dad loved it!
Japanese Wind Chime
I started doing them with a friend Paul O’Connor in LA and then I got hooked. The only bummer is mixing the mud! Thank God for Clyde he mixed the mud for the pool house and I poured, sculpted and got rid of the bubbles. I believe it was 36 100lb bags.
Concrete Counter Tops
Built a loft
Who buys a 7,000 square foot warehouse and decides to turn it into a home? Well, I did. I saw an enormous empty space and imagined what it could become. It was a chance to design, build, solve problems, and get my hands dirty - all things I love. Turning that warehouse into a loft was a big undertaking, but watching it come together made me proud. Sometimes I just can’t resist a project.
