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Home | About
I think I knew I was an artist by the time I was 10. I entered the job market right after high school (where Art was my favorite subject), and did a year-long
stint as radio and TV spot editor at the Ralph H. Jones Advertising Agency, a local blue chip ad agency at the time, in the historic Carew Tower,
downtown Cincinnati. It was a Mad Men experience. It led me to want to compete for attendance at the Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC), where I could truly test the fine and applied art waters full time. At the time (mid-70s), the AAC was based in
the historic building in front of the Cincinnati Art Museum, with labyrinths
leading into the museum itself. It was a magical time. I was able to
attend
up to my Junior year, when financial constraints forced me to leave. So, this period represented the ultimate highs and lows of being a starving artist. I even lived in a garret, renting the top floor of an East Walnut Hills row home from my photography professor...
I applied and was hired at WLWT Cincinnati (Channel 5, NBC Affiliate) as
Artist/Photographer. I photographed many celebrities, sports figures,
musicians, employees, onsite events, on-location still
shots for TV and film company productions. I also provided on-air illustration and messaging, Before Computers. And, we know what fun times those were...
After Channel 5, I moved to Yellow
Springs, Ohio, where I continued my undergraduate studies in the Wright
State University Art and Art History program, graduating magna cum laude. To maintain momentum, I applied
nationwide to graduate programs and accepted the University of California,
Irvine Regents Fellowship and Teaching Assistantship (TA) awards,
graduating with an Master of Fine Arts degree two years later, with concentration in fine
art photography and printmaking.
While a TA for Professor John Paul Jones, Printmaking
Department, I concurrently worked in typography and graphic arts positions
for various local publications and agencies, including working as full-time Head Typographer
for Western Outdoors magazine and newspapers. This was in the
days of computerized typesetting, where I discovered a penchant for machine
programming and publishing.
California was shocking in many ways. Culturally, economically, geographically,
artistically. But there was the ocean. And I lived close enough to
it to ride my bike through the Huntington Beach neighborhood, lay down
on the beach in the middle of the winter ... all bundled up ... all
alone ... listening to Bananarama and Flock of Seagulls on my Walkman
really, really loud. But California dreaming eventually became I Wanna Go Home.
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