How long have you been painting? 
It has probably been about thirteen years now. The past four years I’ve lived off my art for the winter. The first ten years of doing anything is just mastering the technique and putting yourself out there.

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Who have been some of your greatest influences?

Well, as the story goes I was a dirty, punk-rock street rat living in Perth, Ontario. There was a gentleman out of Ottawa whose name was Patrick White, who was more of a poet but he painted as well. I was sort of the only radical in town as a teenager at the time, doing way too many drugs. One of his precursors to teaching me how to paint was that I had to be clean, because he didn’t want to give me this tool for making a living just to end up creating my own destruction with it. Once I was clean he gave me a few lessons, gave me a palate, and I ran with it ever since.

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How would you describe your style of art?

I try to find a middle ground between being creative but also including realism. If your paintings get too real, you can often start losing creativity. There is a big difference between inspiration and ability as far as technique goes.

 

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What was your original inspiration?

There are some revelations when you are coming into your own source of inspiration; you are only awakened once.

I wrote this poem:

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‘Trees grow like veins;

cells are like the leaves.

The air in your lungs is the sky;

your flesh and blood is the sea.

Your bones are of the ground;

and all elements are in me.

It is all you, and you are all you see.

I am of the earth,

and the earth is of me.’

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That was one of the original inspirations which allowed me to step into a bigger world. Now, I am inspired by more than just good things, because you have to be able to appreciate the darkness to see the whole picture. I like to paint things that are beautiful and sort of terrifying.

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