Origin

I was born in Talihina, OK, where, if you're from Oklahoma, you're either a cowboy, an Indian, or a little of both—like me. Raised in Indian culture, I’m half Chickasaw. My formative years were spent around my family homestead in Johnston County, Oklahoma, including Milburn, Filmore, and Tishomingo. Many of my relatives were active in tribal governments, healthcare services for Native Americans, and other community services. Others were teachers, farmers, and ranchers.

At the age of 9, my family moved to Nashville, TN. Growing up in Nashville was a major shift from rural Oklahoma, but I embraced it. It was a city full of opportunity and excitement. By the time I entered high school, my parents had divorced. My mother moved to California, and my father moved to New Mexico. At 16, I moved to Sacramento, CA, to live with my mother. California had a huge impact on me during my adolescent years—it's a place like no other, and I still hold a deep affection for that time.

Throughout these years, I always spent summers and holidays with my grandparents in Milburn, OK, on the family homestead, working, hunting, and fishing. Those experiences cultivated in me a deep respect and appreciation for nature.

Art Beginnings

My earliest interest in art came from MAD magazine and comic books. I would draw my favorite characters, and I remember entering an art contest in those magazines, though I didn’t win I recall receiving an encouraging response which gave me confidence that maybe I can be an artist. Music also had a huge influence on me. My family was passionate about it, and album cover art and photography were especially captivating. I would often replicate those album covers, which sparked my love for visual storytelling.

After a couple of years in Northern California, my mother moved again, and I returned to Tishomingo, where I graduated high school. I then went on to study graphic design and commercial art at the University of North Texas in Denton. However, after a year, financial constraints derailed my education, and I moved back to Nashville.

In Nashville, I immersed myself in the music scene. At 12, my father bought me an electric guitar, and I learned to play. I had also had a desire for a career in music. I spent several years working for a record label and touring as a guitar technician with a rock band. During this time, I also created posters, album covers, and promotional materials. However, after exhausting myself in th music lifestyle, I also met my wife during this time and I decided to refocus on my family and my career as a graphic artist. I returned to school, earned my BFA from East Central University, and began an internship at the USPS Technical Training Center in Norman, OK, as a multimedia artist.

Not long after, I received a job offer in Nashville as a web designer and ran a freelance commercial photography and design business. In 2004, I transitioned to a full-time position in Information Technology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where I have worked ever since. Recently, I’ve experienced a resurgence in my passion for fine art painting, and I’ve begun building a body of work to bring to market.

Inspiration

My artistic inspiration is rooted in the comic books and album covers I grew up with. I’m also deeply influenced by my studies of art history, particularly the Italian Renaissance—its realism, perspective, chiaroscuro, and use of light and color. The Dutch masters’ mastery of light, emotion, and portraiture, as well as the rich, dramatic detail of French Baroque, also play a significant role in shaping my style.

Modern movements such as Surrealism, Pop Art, and graphic design have been major influences as well. During college, I had a mentor, Jim Alford, who was from Santa Fe, NM. One summer, he invited me to visit Santa Fe, where I first encountered high-end paintings in galleries, an experience that left me awestruck and deeply inspired.

Technique & Style

Over the years, I’ve explored many different painting techniques. The traditional methods of underpainting, layering, detail, and glazing are what I find most fulfilling. I combine these techniques with the styles of pop art, realism, portraiture, figurative art, and graphic design.

My recent focus is on the American West, a time and place that fascinates me. The era of westward expansion was one of both exploration and conflict—marked by the migration, settlement, and development of lands west of the Mississippi River. These lands were home to Native American tribes, wildlife, and vast, untamed landscapes. The frontier represented the spirit of pioneering, yet it was also a time of displacement and transformation. It was a truly wild period in American history, filled with stories as epic as any other major time in world history.