Artist's Statement

I've never had the one-track direction of where I wanted to take my art. Instead, I volley between media, subject and purpose whenever a particular mood strikes me. One day I may write a political op-ed, the next I may be inspired to illustrate a poem I wrote through photography, another day I may walk around and photograph my environment as it slaps me in the face. I guess this makes me a novice at many things, an expert at none. But my passions have always fallen in the tiers of the creative, driven by seeking beauty behind the bane of realism.

I took my first black and white photography class at age 13. I still
remember the awe I felt when I saw my image, (a dreadfully unartistic photo of my aunt and her dog) appear before my eyes under the pool of developer. From that point on I knew I would never stray far from photography. Upon graduation from high school, in Greenville, Texas; I began attending Texas A&M University. Originally I had planned to major in Journalism, but I switched to Environmental Design (fancy name for architecture) at the last minute, in hopes for a more creatively stimulating challenge. To my surprise, Architecture was extremely structured and the artistry behind it was restricted due to bureaucratic codes, financing and physics. Some things I tried to design just wouldn't stand up. I stuck with it anyway, and was able to study in Italy for a semester my junior year. It was here I realized that instead of creating new environments, I wanted to relish in the existing, capturing them in a new light by virgin eyes, so as to present them in a way never before seen. I missed photography.

I felt I had gone too far to transfer to another school with a good photography department, so I began substituting all of my architecture classes with the few photography-related classes Texas A&M had to offer. The rest I left up to myself, as I began reading up on technique, building my own darkroom, and shooting everything I could. I graduated with a Bachelors in Environmental Design, in 1999, and moved to Dallas, where I found an intern position at ArchiTexas, a historical preservation firm.

I was working 70 hours a week on the career I didn't want and needed a creative outlet. A friend and I decided to start our own small business on the side. We named it Utro Design, and specialized in photography and graphic design. Clients were small, usually friends or relatives, at first. Then we landed a deal with Neiman-Marcus to sell them 25 photographs of Italy for their annual Fortnight festival. They also recruited us to design displays for the charity gala, Festa D'Italia. These consisted of a 40 foot curved wall with the history of the Ferrari, 6 two-sided panels on Vespas, and a giant spread on the Medieval Italian sport, Calcio. It was my first tiny taste of success.

Unfortunately, shortly after, my partner and I went our separate ways. I continued doing Utro Design on my own, but didn't have the money or time to keep the projects flowing. After three years at the architecture firm, I decided to quit and move to Portland, Oregon. The town inspired new breath in me, and although I was the cliched starving artist, unemployed for 9 months of the year I was there, I was able to delve into the spirit of the town and the people who gave life to it. I could walk out the door of my apartment on any given day and a world of photographs would fall into my lap. My time in Portland also lent itself to improving upon one of my other passions, which had been long neglected. That of writing. Combining the two with my love for politics, culture and traveling, I finally knew where I wanted my career to lie.

Now I'm back in Dallas, pursuing my career in photography, with a fresh outlook on where I want it to take me, both professionally and personally.