I grew up in the small rural town of Kinnelon in northern New Jersey, I was exposed to the art world at a young age through the help of Manhattan’s great museums. Prior to graduating high school I had created two thriving art based businesses, a real estate illustration company and a t-shirt screen printing operation. Following High school I studied painting at Fairleigh Dickenson University. This is where I met the prominent painter Arie Galles, who hired me as a studio assistant. Arie taught me not only fundamental art skills but also how to thrive as a professional artist.Eventually I was drawn to the quaint New England countryside, specifically Vermont where I completed my painting degree at Castleton State College. While living in Vermont I fell in love with black and white photography. It wasn’t that I didn’t like color photography, I only had access to a black and white darkroom. Upon receiving my undergraduate degree I left Vermont and that small darkroom behind.
In the mid-90’s, Hollywood literally had a computer graphics explosion. So after some “normal” non-art related work I headed out west, to California to break into the computer graphics and entertainment industries. While obtaining my MFA in Visual Effects and Computer Animation, I was awarded the most prestigious internship in the industry at ILM. Over 800 students apply for a position at George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, and only 18 were accepted. While at ILM I started my feature film Career by working on the prequel to the films that defined the special effects industry, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Upon completing my MFA I went back to work for Mr. Lucas but, this time at my video game company Lucas Arts, I was now an artist designing video games for the award winning director. Soon after a new film had turned Hollywood upside down with unbelievable visuals, The Matrix, I was approached to come on board as an effects artist to help bring its sequels to the screen.
Upon The Matrix sequels completion I went on to work developing stunning effects for the film Hellboy. Sony Pictures then recruited me to bring The Polar Express to the big screen, so my soon to be wife Sarah and I jumped at the opportunity, relocating to Los Angeles. While living in LA I also worked on Joss Whedon’s directorial film debut Serenity.
During my adventures in Hollywood, My love for still photography had never faded and at this time DSLR’s and ink jet printing were becoming a formidable force in the photography world. I realized that my home computer could replace that small darkroom I left behind in Vermont, and now I could work with color too. When not working on feature films I spent my time translating my cinematic style into still photography.
Next I headed to DreamWorks Animation. This is where I brought to life the lovable characters from such films as Kung Fu Panda, Shrek goes Forth, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss In Boots. While at DreamWorks, I was given the great honor of having s solo photography show in the Cloud Nine Gallery which is the studio’s on campus Gallery. My show consisted of land and sea scapes I had captured right here on Cape Cod aptly titled; Cape Scapes. The show was a huge success.
My favorite subject matter is New England landscapes. I guess I have come full circle from my original love of the New England countryside. Luckily my wife Sarah’s family is still located here on Cape Cod, which has made it easy for us to relocate here.