XXThe Hiss Quarterly || Volume IV, Issue 3

Drawing since time immemorial, I have very young memories of drawing on walls throughout our small house. Mother was very upset, so lots of pencils and paper were made available. This did not deter me from the wall-thing. I think this is how I still work. I get an idea in my head and no matter what kind of obstacles or temptations are put in the way, I end up trying to do the original stuff I set out to do.

In school I studied a variety of things. It was thought I'd go into the sciences, either biology or this new, emergent field of computer engineering. I did neither, and went to art school.

Though there were a few small hiccups, I graduated with BFA 5 years later (1980) from Massachusetts College of Art. Much as I tried, I couldn't get a job being a wunderkind artist/teacher, so got a job as a graphic artist learning graphic production and photography, instead.

Five years later and newly-married, I again set on my path to be an artist/teacher and trekked cross-country to Oregon to attend the Univ. or Oregon's grad program. It was a confusing time, my advisors were contradictory and I felt at a loss and unfocussed. My graphics and computer aptitude came out with some computer art classes I started investigating, another emerging field. However, because it wasn't part of my major, I didn't treat it seriously. I graduated with an MFA in 1987.

We moved to Sacramento for my wife's new job and I attempted to find teaching positions, something I thought wouldn't be that hard. I stretched my contacts at the U of O to the limit, all to no avail. On top of that, President Reagan, in trying to balance the national budget, cut student loans to the bone. As a result, all of the universities and colleges cut their positions, starting from the bottom. My many teaching applications came back with essentially the same word at the top: "Sorry."

Now I had to come up with a job. Again, my graphics and newly-found computer art experience came to the rescue. Newspapers were starting to build parts of their pages (mostly ads) on this funny little computer called the "Macintosh."

This held me for the next 18 years as my journalistic art career reached a peak of Asst. Managing Editor over photo and graphics at a minor daily newspaper here in California's Central Valley.

All during this time I'd been making random artwork, nothing terribly productive, and trying to pursue photography. I'd had a very big hand in the digitizing of art and photos in newspapers, moving from hand-drawn and film-produced work to completely digital renderings and images. It was exciting, and I wanted to pursue it professionally, but for some odd reason could never catch the wave quite right. I'd trained a number of budding young journalist artists who went on to far greater things than I. It's that teacher thing in me, I guess. Nevertheless, it was still frustrating.

With the beginning decline of newspapers in the late 90s, I fell victim to the selling and reselling of the paper I was ensconced in, and along with a number of other middle execs, was cut from the roles. I got another job at a more major newspaper, but it became pretty evident to me that I was burnt out and tired, and needed another avenue.

Then my life took a huge, unexpected right turn. For the next three years things went rather disastrously. At the end of it my life sort of fell into a bunch of little pieces. Not going to go into details, here, sorry. Suffice to say, I realized the mistakes, have vowed never to do that again (yeah, okay, right, try not to) and began rebuilding.

So here I am now, teaching part-time at San Joaquin Delta College Extended Ed, both art and digital photo, and Web and graphics at Modesto Tech Institute. I find it extremely rewarding, this teaching stuff, and am back to investigating both painting and photo. Things are coming back together, albeit a bit slowly, I'm doing way too much, but I'm back on my intended path.

I feel like I'm starting over, which is both exciting and a bit scary, considering that I'm much older than many of my peers. I take some solace in that Edward Hopper was 50 before he was "discovered." Only some, though, because I'm quickly approaching that mile-post.

Now if I can get paid decently for all this stuff I'm doing, things would be perfect. So, go over to my website, Round Space (dot) Com and see my artwork and photography for yourself, and tell me THQ sent you!