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From Massachusetts to California and Back Again!
Born and raised in Amesbury, Massachusetts - I have always pursued my love of art and painting.
As a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, I received a dual degree in business administration and studio art.
Both my life experiences and artistic achievements have influenced my painting style which immerses the viewer in color and
depth.
I once heard somewhere that
you re-create yourself every 7 years. More specifically people tend to change jobs or careers every 5 - 7 years. I think as
a committed artist, this has been proven completely true in my life. I've been employed as a bartender, waiter, a hotel
manager, a graphic artist, a scenic artist, an art director, a dj, a restaurant owner, a chef and most recently a "struggling"
artist.
In the late '80s that 7 year itch hit me hard. I was employed in marketing for a cabaret style concert venue in Hampton
Beach, New Hampshire, and moonlighting every evening as a bartender - to "pay the bills"; but as it always
does, my creative drive was calling for more in my life. I decided their had to be something I could do in Hollywood,.... Movies. Countless others have ventured to Hollywood to make their mark and countless more will in years to come, but
in 1989, I packed up my stuff and drove away from southern New Hampshire in a rented U-haul. I did have a moment of sanity and decided I would back door my way in to Hollywood via Orlando Florida! Huh?
Actually
it was a smart move - you see they were building Universal Studios Florida at the time, and I figured they must need creative
people in the process. Sure enough my theory proved correct and shortly I found myself employed as a scenic artist at the
newly constructed theme park. It took artists like myself to turn the new construction across the park and movie backlot to
give it that look of realism, that look that it had always been there. Our team painted everything from rocks, to rust, to
faux bird droppings!
To celebrate the opening of the 'Movie Studio' in 1990 they planned to actually film a movie there. That
movie was to be "Psycho IV" the fourth sequel to the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock thriller 'Psycho'. The movie
would star Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and the Bates Motel and Psycho house would be built on the backlot (the original
motel and house is at the Universal Studios in Hollywood).
I knew I had to work on that movie, and promptly began hounding the lead painter on the film crew, for a job. I was
hired on to the art department for the movie and had the amazing opportunity to re-create exactly, one of the most famous
film sets in movie history. We recreated the motel, Bates house, mother's room, even the famous shower!
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I actually became the on-set artist
for the film, meaning that I worked alongside the director, Mick Garris. As he looked through the lens of the camera he would
direct me to problems with the set. It was my job to fix the issue, on set, at the moment, sometimes as the actors waited.
The experience was amazing. Working alongside such a classic actor as Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, was an amazing experience.
We actually became good friends and through the years leading to his death - I spent time at his house. Even after his death,
his wife (Berry Berenson) maintained our friendship,
employing me to paint the house, even decorating an altar she had built for Anthony's ashes. As a sad side note Berry Berenson was on United Flight 11 that crashed into
the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Psycho IV went well and it wasn't long before the producers invited me to follow them to Hollywood for their next project. So once again, I packed my belongings and hit the roads again - this time bound for Hollywood!
Click here to read my interview with Psychomovies.com
Over the
next six years I was employed on 19 different feature films. As scenic artist, as set dresser, as special effects, even as
art director, It was an amazing time in my life as I criss-crossed the country living in the movie experience,
that I was working on at that moment!
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