If you’ve taken a look at my C.V., you may notice that a lot was happening, then nothing, then a pickup. So why?

After art school, the big question loomed: what next? The dream? Being a “professional” artist, lost in creation day in, day out. But reality hit hard – hunger, looming student debt, and a lack of funds.

So, I took my arsenal of creative problem-solving skills and Adobe Suite knowledge and ventured into the corporate wilderness. From graphic designer to video editor, producer to sr. director of marketing, I worked up the vast landscape of B2B and B2C companies. Each role brought new challenges and opportunities, but it was e-commerce that left me drained, a creative husk in a soulless landscape.

The job seemed like a breeding ground for creativity, but it was a mirage. The constant churn of products, the relentless pursuit of consumerism—it sapped my creative energy like a vampire in a blood bank. E-commerce, with its frantic pace and perpetual state of emergency, was a hellmo—a world unto itself where time bends to the whims of digital commerce. A hilarious state of constant chaos. For what? Get your vitamins ASAP, people! (Writing this I am well aware that I may one day go back to it in some form, so there is a hypocritical air about this critique. I know.)

I’m currently anchored to a stable corporate job that appreciates my time and talents, granting me a semblance of work-life balance and significantly less creative drain. I’m left with enough residual energy to escape to my studio at day’s end. This is what I need. 

But I can’t shake the feeling of lost time, of squandered opportunities. Nearly a decade spent in the clutches of the hellmo, while my art languished in the recesses of my mind, begging for release. This is reading so dramatic.

In 2023 I had my renaissance. I chose to embrace the present and carve out a future where my art takes center stage and so, I essentially just picked up where I left off. Started making work again, and slowly letting the world see it. So closing in on my 40’s, I’m a happy “emerging” artist.