EVERY ARTIST HAS A STORY OF HOW THEY BECAME AN ARTIST. WHAT WAS YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY SURROUNDING ARTWORK? AND WAS THERE A MOMENT IT CLICKED THAT YOU WOULD BE AN ARTIST, OR HAS IT NEVER BEEN A QUESTION?
I've always been naturally drawn towards art and art-making. As a kid I was really inspired by my grandfather in Kentucky. He had to quit school at 15 to help make money for his family after his father died. After serving time in the Navy he started working on the assembly line at International Harvester, a company that manufactured tractors and trucks, and worked his way up from there. But he was also an incredibly talented artist. He taught himself how to draw, paint, build and play instruments, and he taught photography classes during his retirement. Some of my earliest memories are asking him to draw me various animals and of me sneaking into his computer room to use his fancy double-sided markers.
