“My beginning with anything that looked like art was not intended to be art. In school, I hated the structure of classes, but I loved geometry; meticulously formulating and arranging shapes was the only thing that piqued my interest. After school, I worked for Honeywell, then Boeing, doing CAD drafting. But after two years, I felt bored and unfocused, so I quit. Within another few years, I saw an old image inside an encyclopedia which prompted a zig-zag streak of inspiration. I was looking for the word “electrolysis” and, while flipping through the pages, came across “etching.” Its accompanying illustration was an etched copper plate from which a print was being pulled. It looked like a typical drafting drawing, so natural to me, so familiar, but one that had been shuffled.

All of the lines were out of place, creating something entirely new and different—a work of art. An endeavor to create an image representing a deeper truth, which we specifically call art. This was my eureka moment in life. I was in my mid-twenties and had never painted before. But in that moment, I suddenly realized that my interest in geometry and my interest in CAD all hinged on design. So, I just started painting. Those early canvas were total chaos, but I loved painting so much, I just kept going. I pulled my hair out for 10 years, educating myself, learning over time. I didn’t know what I was doing, didn’t know good from bad. I persevered. Now, it feels like a miracle that it’s worked. Well, sometimes it’s a miracle. Other days…maybe I figured it out just a little bit.”