I have always been interested in the visual medium. I am captivated by the work of artists; though icons in the industry, professionals in the field and even close personal friends. I work hard every day to count my self among them as a professional artist.
As an artist, I strive to communicate through thoughtful technical execution and framing. In my experience I have found that the tactile aspects of a piece can be just as important as the design of the artwork. Things like the texture of the paper and the application of the ink are of great importance to me. There is an indescribable feel of wonder I always strive for in my art. My favorite thing to hear is “I don’t know why I like this so much, there is just something about it.”
I have been fortunate enough to work with artists, storytellers and poets to bring their visions to life. I am proud to have helped them create tangible art objects. In some of the work you can see what I have made with my frequent collaborators, Mahto and Beka Addison-Bower. You can find more about them Here (Mahto) and Here (Beka) respectively.
The gallery above contains some of my work created for art pop-ups and other community art events. Among these are a selection of zines. With these works I focused on pushing the limits of CMYK printing and displaying the subtle effect of ink color. Something difficult to experience here, digitally.
I take some of my influences from “Decorative Designers.” Artists of book covers and text from the early 20th century art nouveau and art deco movements. To me nothing stands out more or feels more magical than these old cloth bound books. The patterned covers and the reverent placement of the illustrations make the books come alive in my hands.
Through artwork like this I discovered Alfons Mucha and was astounded that I could still see his commercial style in modern artworks. Studying the reproduction of his work through lithography I began to visit other commercial artists, particularly the work of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and the comic book artists of the mid 1900s. I’ve noticed that, through the advancement of printing technology, commercial art had lost a bit of the old magic. In my work I strive to bring this back and hopefully make something that the world has been missing in this digital age.
Above: A piece I illustrated for the My Famicase 2023 annual art exhibition in Tokyo Japan.
In addition to my professional work as a graphic designer I also remain practiced in traditional arts and draftsmanship. When it comes to pure illustration I often turn to physical paper over tools like pro create and other digital illustration software. I am just as comfortable with a pencil as I am with a mouse. Though I often use this experience subtly in my commercial work I still continue to practice and hone my skills as an artist both digitally and traditionally.
