As a kid I was always fascinated by art of all types whether it was painting, sculpting, music, and even literary art. I needed to absorb as much of it as I could. By the age of 7 I was already a decent painter having my work displayed in school and at different children's art exhibits.
During high school I started sculpting. My most prominent piece was a wire and clay piece titled NIRVANA, after the grunge band that it depicted. After it toured the different art exhibits around Kern County for a year it was sold for $5000.00, my biggest sale to date.
I next turned my hunger for art to music I love everything about music it can evoke an emotional response from anyone. I first learned how to play the bass guitar and formed a little garage band with a couple friends. Soon after that I joined the US NAVY. Well it is kind of hard to carry a guitar and amp on a ship so I started toying around with computer generated music techno, house, trance you know club stuff. I fell in love all over again and to this day it is my favorite genre of music actually I am listening to Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation as I write this. While I was in the NAVY I spent a lot of time on developing my DJ skills and even recorded two CD's that are still in circulation today feel free to contact me if you would like to purchase one.
At this point in my life I had not even considered photography as a possible source for my art addiction. It wasn't until I got into graphic design that I even decided to pick up a camera. I realized that purchasing stock photos could get expensive if I had to do it all of the time, so I went out and purchased my first camera, a NIKON point and shoot. With the first click of the shutter I was hooked. I started learning everything I could about photography, all the ins and outs. After a year of learning and shooting with my point and shoot I upgraded to a NIKON DSLR, it was a very spiritual experience like it was meant to be. For me my camera is like an extra limb, it is a part of me and my constant hunger for art seems to finally be sated.
During my long road to photography I have learned life through art. By exploring all of the different mediums I have a deep understanding of beauty, laughter, sadness, life, and death. Without art I truly believe that we would cease to exist because it is art that defines us and through art we can express our true inner selves. Being a published photojournalist, an award winning graphic artist, or even recording a number one hit pale in comparison to the feeling of creating the art that won the award.