I was born, raised, and educated in Melbourne, Australia. And as a kid, everything whimsical and fantastic captivated me.
Because my imagination was forever on overdrive, I always had paper and pencils on hand, even when watching TV. This practice extended to school, where I often received grief for endlessly doodling in the margins of textbooks.
Mine was a trades-person’s family. Both my father and grandfather were plumbers. And while no relative before me had ever attended college, fate had determined that I follow a different path. At seventeen, I entered college as an art student.
Four years later, I graduated with a major in painting. Back then, my mediums of choice were oils, acrylics, and egg tempera. But no sooner had I left college than I began drifting away from mainstream subjects. Exploring purely imaginative works held so much more appeal.
There were two major influences at work here.
First, in my final year of art school, I began exploring in depth the mesmerizing works of the Pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau, and the Golden Age illustrators. And second, I was reading increasing amounts of fantasy literature.
By the time I reached graduation, I was just itching to dive headfirst into these subjects. In a very short time, my creative output transitioned from the traditional into all manner of things magical and mystical.
A decade and a half later, I packed my bags, grabbed my passport, and set off on a journey that took me halfway around the world. I now live and paint in a small village situated in New York’s beautiful Adirondack State Park.
These days, my painting mediums have also undergone substantial changes. I now create art digitally.
Painting on a computer requires the use of a pressure-sensitive tablet. My method is to lay down multitudes of tiny brush strokes to build up form, color, and texture. And when you think about it, this really isn’t so different from how I previously painted with traditional egg tempera.