Tell me about yourself, where you live and your background/lifestyle.
I am 35 years old but don't let that define who I am, good or bad.
Rather, my age explains the cycles of history that I've had to exist in and
relate to. I grew up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (USA) during a time when
computers were not used to create "art." Art was done in real time on
substantive material---not pixels. In my experience, art and design were
totally disconnected from the "science" of computers. It wasn't until about
1990 that the two started to merge for me. That's not to say that people
weren't involved in creating art on computers before this. My biggest
problem, at this stage of development was that the graphics programs were
very immature. Photoshop hardly did wasn't the tool is today. Oils and
pastels were my main output. It was good. By 1993 I was beginning to see the
internal split between the computer-based art and the traditional art. And
it wasn't until I bought a graphics tablet that the two began to merge. I
feel less at-odds with myself.
Who first influenced you artistically?
My Father painted with oils and so my two brothers and I naturally
picked up on that art thing. My father isn't, however, who influenced me
the most. That credit would have to go to my younger brother Tim. When we
were younger, Tim was always just a little bit better at art. By this, I
mean he found himself and expressed himself better in art than I did.
Since High School, I have artistically tried to emulate him and today we are
rather close. We compete but not to be better than the other but rather to
show the other how much farther we have come.
What first attracted you to the Internet?
I buy all of the Illustration and Design annuals: "Communication Arts"
and "Society of Illustrators." These books contain works that are mostly
done by people who work professionally. What attracted to the internet was
the possibility of finding the other artists, who, for one reason or
another, where not being represented in the major media market. I am one of
these people. I find the internet to be a very sophisticated means of
looking at artist's works and talking to them about it. Often, it's like
walking into an art studio or class. The work is "out there" it's naked and
it's often just about as real as they want it to be. I've found that these
artists simply enjoy it and are often satisfied that they have a comfortable
place to show their art.
What kind of artwork do you expect to be doing in the next 12 months
or so?
I have been in artistic turmoil. Two months ago I was designing for a
local screen printing shop. It was good work but it wasn't exactly what I
enjoyed. To make up for the deficiencies of the job, I worked on my
children's book. Recently, however, I started a new job at a mail order
computer store. They hired me as a Graphic Artist/Web Page Designer. When I
went to the interview, the owner mentioned that my interview had already
taken place when they saw my web site. They wanted someone that could work
on multiple levels and my site displayed what they were looking for. Since
then, I've been consumed by the work that I am doing there. When I get home,
I am perpetually trying to work out how I can be better in that new
environment. It is probably the ultimate job for me because it involves all
my creative interests: Design, Illustration, and Web Development. However,
I have a lot to learn so artistically, for the next twelve months, I expect
to be inspired, steered, and bumped about in ways I can't anticipate today.
Have you found other artists on the Internet like yourself?
Yes, but I am not always so sure that I know who I am artistically.
Other Artist are always on so many different levels and it's close to
impossible to recognize it when you see it. I often ask myself when
confronted by someone's work, is this really who this person is. Would I
really know myself if confronted by it? I think a lot of Artists out there
spend a great deal of time putting their work up only to find that the
image, the message or the look of the site is not exactly what they
intended. I suppose this is often caused by the tools they use. There are a
lot of people out there that are great artist but their computer skills,
namely web page, photoshop, and graphics skills are not always comparable.
My greatest prejudice is that I evaluate people by their taste in
environments; do you live tastefully, do you immures yourself in a
artistically focused environment? What do you choose to put on your walls?
In addition to this, artists are one thing one day and different the next.
If you do it right, an artist should constantly evolve from day to day and
when the sun comes up it should look slightly different every morning. This
is what my site has become for me or at least what I want it to be.