Bio
I was born in 1946 from Banner County in Western Nebraska. Like all of the other children on farms in that area I started school at the one room country school called Flowerfield, District 58. There were 3 others in my class with the total student count at 13 from Kindergarden to the 8th grade. I lived on the family farm for most of the first 18 years with my parents and 3 younger brothers..
There were a few trees north of the house in the rocky canyons but to the south the land was uninterrupted to the horizon. I spent my time roaming the pastures of the home place which sat at the edge of the Platte River Valley. Except for the softly rolling hills it was treeless but fertile. Strips of alternating green or tan wheat or fallow earth stretched into the distance in grids of wheat, rye, corn or oats. It was 1.5 miles to the mail box, 19 miles to the nearest paved road and the small town of Bushnell, 40 miles or so to the larger towns of Kimball and Scottsbluff, 50 miles to Cheyenne Wyoming and the nearest big city was Denver 160 miles away.
In 1961 my family began a yearly migration to Arizona from the chilly winters of the Great Plains. Tom and I went to Cortez High in Phoenix and I took art classes taught by Helen Sloan at ASU on the week ends. She was an important influence for me to consider a career in art. I applied to and was accepted at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and started in June 1965. The bohemian atmosphere at the school must have made my parents a bit skeptical but they supported my serious attention to painting and drawing.
After graduation and thinking my chances of getting work were better away from Hollywood I went to Denver where he was hired by the largest production company there at the time called Barbarie Productions. I shot and directed commercials and industrial films with more responsibility than would have been possible in a larger market. Several commercials won local awards but business in Colorado was slow in the recession of the early 70s.
It was off to New York City in 1972 where the prospects were better. After a period of hanging out at the Chelsea Hotel with Jobriath and some other chaps with California ties funds were running out. Unable to get a film job I met Stephen Ladner a photographer, whose brother I knew in LA, took me on as his assistant. Gradually my hours at the restaurant where I was manager and waited tables were cut back to accommodate more work for Stephen's clients such as GQ, Esquire, The New York Times and retail catalogues.
By then my contacts in the film and commercial world were developing and I got a job cutting negative and editing retail commercials. During this time I was taking and collecting my own photographs of life in Manhattan and Fire Island when CBGBs and Studio 54 were in their prime.
Work for other photographers and then a small advertising studio kept the rent paid on a loft on 29th Street and Eighth Avenue in Chelsea. I made marketing films, print ads and illustrated and wrote promotional material for Doris Weston one of the most important footwear fashion mavens of her time and had hired Andy Warhol to do shoe art for her years earlier.
Restlessness and limited prospects at the small agency motivated me to hire out for freelance projects such as directing photography and production of educational material on child care. Between jobs I was experimenting with the new media of color xerox and held a show in my loft of 12 pieces.
On a visit to California in 1978 I renewed my friendship with fellow Chouinard film student, Jim Mallasch. Jim had just finished building models and miniatures for a film called Star Wars. Since the movie was such a hit he had plenty of work and encouraged me to stay in Los Angeles. We worked on a number of commercials for N Lee Lacy Productions doing scenic backgrounds, miniature effects and special props for MacDonalds, Ralphs, and others.
I also worked with other art directors such as Jim Newton on concert scenic design for Paul McCartney, Manhattan Transfer, Alive Productions and others.
An opportunity to work full time with Gene Warren Sr. and Jr. presented itself and I spent months in fake snow making practical miniature effects for Roger Corman's Avalanche. Also got to do stop motion animation for Swiss Miss and Pillsbury's Doughboy commercials.
Computers were becoming important in my life about 1983 when I did several graphic storyboard ideas for NBC's Winter Olympics in Moscow for Image West. Since those games were boycotted by the U.S. the concepts were never used but were seen by the ABC Sports producers who hired the company to do a portion of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics graphics. During this period we designed and directed production on show opens for all the major American networks and several abroad. This was the hayday of earliest computer graphics when the images were manipulated by analog devices.
IW was subject to a hostile take over after a new group bought out the longtime owners, sold stock on the Vancouver Stock Exchange which at that time had more lax rules for trading to the public. After a brisk promotion of the company to prospective investors the company was abandon. They took the money and ran. It was an interesting situation as the sheriff came in and gave the staff an hour to take their personal things and leave the premises.
In 1991 I moved on to ABC Video Design Group where I worked with former IW colleagues Manny Amit and Jiro Matsuki as artist and animator using Houdini and Maya software to produce broadcast graphics for the owned and operated stations of ABC Inc.. These O and Os are eight stations in the largest markets, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Raleigh, and Fresno.
An opportunity came up to teach at a new iteration of the art school which was my alm mater, Chouinard Art Institute. I taught a Color and Design course, designed signage, served on the advisory board, managed the school website, and showed my work at the school in South Pasadena. But the school failed financially inspite of an enthusiastic faculty and community involvement.
In 2007 I moved to Arizona to be with my mother near the end of her life. When I wasn't required for caregiving I trained and became a docent at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemportary Art, SMOCA.
In 2011 moved back to California, this time to Petaluma in Northern California where I reside today. Petaluma is a good mix of country and city. Agriculture is the mainstay here and has been since the early 20th century. Chickens and eggs from Petaluma fed the populas up and down the coast. Dairy farms, vineyards, and wineries are now big business espcially since the area has it's own appelation designation. This has brought about the treat of gentrification and overdevelopment to our doorsteps. They have been met with a headwind of activism from locals who intend to preserve the unique and noncorporate town particularly the historic downtown like none other in northern California. And San Francisco is just down the street.
I have been an artist member of the Petaluma Arts Center since I arrived showing my work, teaching classes, and as a guide to VTS (visual thinking strategies) for students on field trips from local grade schools. I am also developing a relationship with Artaluma, a relatively new studio here and have been teaching a painting class.
Video clips will be changing in this space. Check back.
