I am an artist. I didn’t always use that label but I now understand that what I do is art. I express creativity through art to help make sense of the world and of ideas that are difficult to describe sufficiently in words. I also make art this is just silly because humor and laughter is important. I don’t see everything I do as art but more and more I can see the influence of art in what I do.
Below is a portfolio featuring some of my artwork. I’m still working on pulling this together so check back to see more of my work over the next few weeks and months and thank you for your interest in my artistic work.
Artist Philosophy
As an artist I want to make people think differently about the world we inhabit or sometimes even just to think about our world. I use humor a lot in my work. I spent years partnering with my friend and fellow artist David T. English as part of the duo the Schmutz Company. Together Dave and I did performance art, puppetry, and arts education. We worked in museums, performed at the Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival, The Three Rivers Arts Festival, and at bars and night clubs. We made art that appealed to a wide audience from kids to adults.
Outside of my work with Dave my art has been more introspective and explored the topic of art and how others see and consume art. I’m a big believer in the power of art to make us see the world differently, to reframe how we see particular issues, and to open us up to new ideas.
THE SCHMUTZ COMPANY 2007-2015 Along with my artist partner David T. English I was one half of the artist collective The Schmutz Company. We created a variety of works from claymation to live puppetry performances for children and adults. We performed at the Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival, the Three Rivers Arts Festival, at galleries, museums, puppetry festivals, and even a few bars and nightclubs.-
FIRST NIGHT DOCTOR WHO ART CAR 2013/14 Created for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s First Night Parade on New Year’s Eve and to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who. -
BRIGHTON HEIGHTS GATEWAY 2014 Working with fellow artist Cheryl Capezzuti and members of the local community including kids we reimagined the plantings at the neighborhood’s gateway as creatures for halloween. -
SELFIE 2014 The Westmoreland Museum of Art sponsored me a resident artist at Scottdale Elementary School working with their 4th grade class as part of the Westmoreland’s larger project Selfie which examined topics like agency, self-identity, social identity, and more through the lens of the popular art of self-portraiture Selfies. Taking inspiration from David Hockney’s photo collages we examined self-identity through our favorite possessions.
NOTE: I’d love to show you examples of the kids work but due to privacy issues all I can show is my own collage.
Music Production
In addition to performance art and visual art I've created music since my teen years. I was in several bands, none of any note, have created electronic music, play the bass, and the piano, and have composed original works of music.
You can hear samples of my music on Soundcloud. Here is one called Caravan, it's a piano based composition with some added beats and light electronic sounds and effects.