Computer Animation
Graduation Year: 2001
I have spent the better part of my life dedicated to the art making process as I was nurtured from an early age in the arts by my parents, both of whom are artists.
I attended Parson's School of Design in New York where I have remained ever since. I majored in illustration and started out at the Op-Ed section of the New York Times and other editorial publications. After a go of it for seven years I made the transition to painting.
I have primarily focused on documenting unusual aspects of American culture with an emphasis on cultural anthropology. In 1999 after completing a six-month artist in residency out west and teaching painting and printmaking, I was faced with returning to New York, penniless yet again.
I thought it was time to apply to graduate school. I chose both Yale's graduate painting program and Sheridan's Computer Animation Program. The later came highly recommended by another faculty member who thought I could apply my painting skills to this digital medium, which I knew nothing about. I had only rudimentary skills with Photoshop and some desktop design software at the time. I was accepted to Yale but the tuition was $70,000; hence I chose Sheridan.
In retrospect I'm glad I did. It was a very challenging environment as I had never animated before let alone attempted to make sense of such a complex and daunting piece of software as Maya. The course emphasized the creative as well as the technical applications of 3-D so I thrived. I graduated with a reel that demonstrated a variety of techniques and skills.
I am still painting and am represented by a gallery in Chelsea. I subsidize my income as a freelance motion graphics designer and digital matte painter for a number of ad agencies and boutique effects houses.
My fondest memory at Sheridan was the satisfaction of completing my first digital animation of falling debris in a junkyard in Alaska.
Back to School of Animation, Arts & Design Alumni Profile PageBack to Alumni Profile Homepage