High School / Childhood Art

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Since drawing is where it all began for me, I've included some of my earliest artwork in this section - possibly against my better judgement. I knew I was an artist ever since winning a teddy bear coloring contest when I was 3. I remember it vividly, and I'm working on a short essay about this early realization. It was a contest in which every child that entered surely received an award, but that, coupled with a few other early works, became the impetus or staring point to solidifying my aspirations of becoming an artist/painter.

I have my high school teacher Sean Butler to thank for much of the encouragement and freedom to explore my drafting skills. He was always giving me things to reproduce and learn from that were pretty hard to manage. He challenged my art-making and pushed me to see with my hands. I often took advantage of my talent and used it to otherwise goof-off or hang out with friends during class, which was honestly a welcome break to the struggle that is high school amid all of the peer pressure and mixture of teenage angst and rebellion. I formed my first band (Render) with Jon Dean sitting across from me, the both of us making art, in one his art classes, before we even learned our instruments or jammed together! His classes were an escape for a good chunk of the day. I am forever grateful for that. I did work pretty hard though ...when I worked. 

It's on my Links page, but you can visit Sean Butler's website here.