I was raised in a small town in Wisconsin, where sports were the star attraction, and I played all that they offered. I found art was my real passion though and took as many art classes as I could, sometimes the same class two or three times. My brother Kevin led the way for my artistic discovery. He attended University of Wisconsin River Falls with the goal of acquiring his Bachelor of Fine Arts. I visited him a few times when I was 12 and was captivated by his world. The welding and bending of metal and the different firing techniques in ceramics and of course his “quirky” fellow art students were very intriguing as well. I enrolled to the University of Minnesota Duluth and was accepted with the intention of getting a Fine Arts degree. Though after getting my prerequisites done, after two years I decided to transfer to my brother’s alma mater the University of Wisconsin River Falls. My brother, after graduation, was still living in the area so we were able to connect as artistic “partners in crime”. We collaborated on a few projects together and it was at UWRF that I received my first art award, Honorable Mention in student juried art show for one of my paintings. It was a very large painting and was given its own wall in the show, my first. A visiting artist/professor from the University of Idaho Moscow was my next artistic educational influence. Byron Clercx was a graduate from UWRF art program. He was doing a workshop on book making which I missed due to a painting class I had. He was touring the painting studios where I was painting and he said to me, “What are you doing here? You should come out west.” That was all it took for me to transfer to the University of Idaho-Moscow. In 1996 I was accepted to the U of I and quickly went into art production in a studio that was an old Judo Hall in Moscow, Idaho. I hit my stride as a practicing artist and acquired shows and commissions in the community. I worked directly with Byron Clercx and the shop supervisor and artist Val Carter to open the new sculpture lab on campus. I ended my college days with the University of Idaho Moscow by getting a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Painting and Sculpture. I find my employment in various jobs were a big part of my inspiration. My wife says I have lived many lives and she continues to learn of more as we grow. Fourteen years ago, I acquired a job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a security guard and after only three months, quickly made the jump to Technician for the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts department. One year later I was in the Modern and Contemporary department as a Technician and I am still presently their as Principal Departmental Technician.