* biographical information *
1. how did you become interested in art and painting murals?
as a young child i was always making greeting cards for every holiday and giving them to family and friends. i cannot remember a time when drawing was not a part of my everyday life. i decided at a the age of 14 to go to art school and make my living as an artist. when i was 18, just before i started college, my cousin asked me to paint some fish on her bedroom walls. i figured, well i can paint them on a canvas, i guess i can paint them on a wall too! and thus my mural career was born. upon completion of college , it snowballed from there to become my full-time business and has been for the past 20 years.
2. what is your artistic and educational background (arts training, significant
artists/teachers with whom you've studied, degrees)?
i took private art lessons all throughout jr. high school, had a wonderful art teacher/mentor while attending high school at simi valley high. during high school i attend the distinquished california state summer school for the arts and took Saturday classes at my dream college, the art center college of design, pasadena, ca. in 1994, i graduated from the art center with a bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration. the art center was an amazing experience overall because it's instructors are current working professional artists, so i was able to get a great real-world sense of what life could be like as a future artist.
3. please list any other works you've done, exhibits you've participated in,
or institutions that have shown your work.
i have been painting murals all over southern california for the past 20 years. my work is visible throughout the state in model homes-many of which have won interior design awards both directly and indirectly related to my murals, schools, and private residences. my artwork is also prominent within the sulphur springs union school district elementary schools ( valley view, mitchell, pinetree and sulphur springs) in the santa clarita area, where i have not only painted murals at the school sites but also worked with the students in a workshop setting to create artwork/murals that are on display at their school campuses. i also had the privilege of painting a soothing mural in the neo-natal intensive care unit at northridge hospital in northridge, ca. i have had many parents call me to let me know the mural brightened their day each and every time they visited what is for the most part, a sad, depressing place. again, this is what makes what i do so special to me.
4. please describe the nature of your current artistic pursuits (i.e. are you
still painting murals, part-time, full-time, etc.).
i am still living my passion as a full-time artist painting murals, i own and operate the dream painter™ wall murals 1-805-527-1744. i do not have any employees, i design and paint all of the artwork myself, as well as meet all potential clients personally. business is very good and i enjoy making peoples' homes and workspaces more beautiful with the addition of one my murals. in my talent, i have a gift and am happy and fortunate to use it everyday. i measure my success by the inspiration my art has on others. i know i am doing what i was put on this earth for every time an expecting mother says she never wants to leave the newly painted nursery, that i have made her baby's room a dream come true, every time a group of children stare in amazement, commenting on how much they like the painting i am creating at their school, every time one of those kids says to me "i paint at home, i love to draw", every time the parents and children light up when they see the finished work and discover all of the personalized elements i have put into their mural, every time a child asks her mom if she can get her own painting supplies out and paint too, every time i hear the stories that families tell about the animals in the mural i painted for them and how they say goodnight to them all each night, every time a child hands me a drawing he made for me while i was busy painting his room, and every time i hear this sentence from the kids i work with or paint for-"when i grow up, i want to be an artist, just like you."
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