Profile

My jobs involve thinking outside of the box and never giving up.

Since I work making images to sell and also on movie sets, my environment changes constantly. It is never ever dull, except when standing in the dark, alone, printing images but mainly it is always a new scene and ever changing.

On movie sets I work with wonderful creative and talented people.  Some can be very high maintenance and cranky.

On documentaries I work with really interesting people who tend to have smart things to say.

In selling and creating art, it just depends on the person—usually really lovely people buy my art.

Oh wow… ok on someone else’s film, as well as on my own, I start my day very early in the morning no matter what time I go to bed. I have to accomplish a lot each day. So if on someone else’s film, I go to set, say hi to my co-workers and then get my day started. Depending on what I am doing on set that day is how my day goes.

I can tell you that if we are filming outside in the heat or rain or snow those are the elements I stand in too. If I am shooting pictures for my artwork then it is a bit more mellow. I try, each day, to wake up early enough to either paint or draw or write, in order to feel centered but also to awaken my artist’s mind.

Creativity and flexibility

It can be crazy. It changes a lot. Generally I work 10-16 hours a day!

Yes I travel a lot.  I frequently bounce between Austin, LA, and New York.  I also travel to Israel and Palestine.

I love that part of my work requires me to live in the freedom to create. I like to feel integral in a process that can lead to something at the end that is of visual value, or that helps our world or that makes people see or feel a connection to the thing they are observing.

I feel a loss of a social life that I would like to have bit more of.

The brevity of life inspires me to create each day… to work hard.

My mother and father are the biggest positive and consistent influences in my life. I have many others but they are the number ones.

Marry a rich guy! KIDDING…

Hmmmm… probably to NOT take things personally. You never know what someone’s day has been like.

The teenage years can be so hard and confusing. I suggest that when presented with situations where your first instinct tells you it is "wrong" or feels unkind, you turn and walk away.

That you treat others the way you wish to be treated and hopefully that is with kindness and compassion.

Yes, I would have taken typing, that which my father begged me to do… and I refused to. Seriously, nope, I feel like the very hard road I have traveled has made me a stronger person.

What spare time?

People, sleeping, love, looking at beauty, trying to figure out how to save the world, working with youth culture (especially from the Middle East.)

I am still arriving to where I am today. Every day I feel I am learning and growing. I arrived where I am today from being resourceful and remaining committed. I arrived thru some hard lessons and long moments of questioning.

Basically, because I lacked in so many scholastic endeavors being creative for a living was my only choice.

I was born into a family of very intelligent people. But, I was born with brain challenges and learning differences that I had to overcome.

Because my parents were smart, they put me in special programs and special classes.  They introduced me to art and athletics to help me build my self-esteem. I learned inner confidence and the value of working very hard, despite my deep physical challenges.