Biography

"Summoned" - From Sweet-Spot Video

I attended the University of North Dakota where I completed a BA in Visual Arts in December 2000. During that time I explored a variety of disciplines including casting, jewelry fabrication, sculpture, and oil painting. I’ve worked as a commercial goldsmith, illustrated several books, and worked on commission as a free-lance jeweler and artist. My most recent paintings combine fantasy, surrealism, and expressionism with special emphasis on the human form. Blazing columns of light, bursting figures, and dark backdrops characterize this series, my attempt to represent the polar opposites that seem to prevail both internally and externally.

Artist’s Statement

This selection of works showcases the different artistic avenues I’ve explored since my college studies. Charcoal illustration, oil painting, and metalworking are the primary means of artistic expression that I still embrace today. A traditional artist for many years, it wasn’t until 2004, four years after graduating college, that I began exploring digital painting, photo-manipulation, and graphic design.

The genres I’ve experimented with have been just as varied as the mediums used. Realism has always defined my style, though content has changed over time. As for many young elementary school artists, fantasy appealed greatly to me: Unicorns, dragons, and various mythological beasts all found their way onto my sketchpad. Real life dragons – dinosaurs – were also very popular subjects. I quickly began inventing my own creatures, something I still have a passion for today.  Werewolves are classic monsters that I continue to derive much enjoyment from drawing.

When I began oil painting at the age of 13, subject matter was quite different. Lonely seascapes and landscapes of mountains, forests, and plains dominated canvases and continued to do so through college. During that time my focus was achieving desired effects through use of light and dark as well as exploring blending techniques. In 2005 I began producing an ongoing series of oil paintings that combined elements of realism and fantasy, depicting recognizable human forms in surreal environments. Brilliant light against dark backdrops is the prevalent element in these paintings, one that has also been finding its way into my digital art.

My work is available for sale through my website, www.UnstableArt.com. I am also available for commissions in illustration, painting, jewelry, and graphic design. Currently I am working on a graphic novel collaboration.

Gallery

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