What mediums do you work in?Colored Pencil, Watercolor, Pen and Ink, Pencil, Fabric, Acrylic, Yarn, Wire, Face Paint, Clay
, Sculpy, Leather, pretty much anything I can get my hands on.
Have you had any formal art training?
My Father taught me some of my first lessons in drawing and painting when I was little.
My Nana taught me how to sew by hand.
My Mother taught me how to use my sewing machine.
I took as many art classes as I could in high school which is where I got my basics in portrait drawing, sculpting, photography and painting. I decided to major in art when I got to college, but when I got there I found that their art program was not comprehensive enough. I got through 1 year and I only got to take 2 art classes, Color Theory and Ceramics. I found that those classes were very well taught, and I still use many of the lessons I learned in Color Theory to this day.
Everything else I have either taught myself or gotten a friend to help me with here and there, but I really just seem to Grok art. My parents nicnamed me Doozer when I was little because I was always doing things and making stuff.
Where do you find inspiration?
All over the place.
I love books and music, dancing and watching dancers. I love to sit and observe nature (fire, water, clouds, animals, trees) and architecture and patterns and shapes in the grain of wood and the nap of the carpet. I really love art museums too. I find that inspiration can come from anywhere and you won't always know when you find it, but it can effect you even if you aren't paying attention.
Also, you can get a lot of inspiration by trying something and making mistakes.
Has your art been influenced by Realms? If so, how?
Yes, absolutely!!! When I first started in 2001 i used to doodle made up heraldry, costumes and armor all the time. I made my very first bracers out of leather, but I found out that I didn't attach the leather together in enough places so they are pretty but poorly constructed :). I did a few character sketches for fun and really like designing and making garb. Then some of my friends started asking me if i could do face painting for their NPCs and I had confidence in my ability so I just gave it a shot and found out I was really good at it. I currently do face and body painting at parties and conventions.
Where do you share your work?
Wherever I can.
Recently I have been doing face painting, but I have a facebook page for all of my work here:
I have an Etsy shop:
And I travel to Sci-Fi/ Fantasy Conventions with Graven Images (greatest. fangsmith. ever.)
What project/projects that you've created have you been particularly proud of?
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I can't really nail down 1 or 2. I try to only make work I can be proud of. I particularly remember a few though. For one of my first NPC paints I made Don Ottman into a wild boar and I felt pretty good about it, but I didn't have a camera on me so its just locked away in my memory (and whoever else saw it that day).What projects do you hope to complete in the future?
Anything I am working on currently, I suppose. I usually start many things at once, but I tend to walk away from things that I am not being contracted to do. I love going back into sketch books and looking at things I started ages ago. Seeing them with a fresh perspective, many times, allows me to complete them in much more interesting ways than I had originally intended.
What other Realms artists work do you enjoy?
I love Casey "Karmha" Lemay's work, I believe she has exelent attention to detail and just generally crafts well made items. I really appreciate Doug "Metron" Fisher's work too, he's an excellent illustrator. I was so happy to get second place to him this year at ToC, and I hope to see more competitors in the art bardic in future :)