• When I was a kid, I was recognized for my work in murals including a notorious piece on the wall behind my father’s living room chair and also an avant-garde rainbow on the hood of my oldest sister’s car. Not all of my art education was applauded.

    The unsung heroes of my development were public school art teachers. I had trouble remaining focused in typical classroom settings, so art class was my refuge. My second grade art teacher let me spend all spring building a 5 ft. cardboard robot. My high school art teacher, Rebecca Matthews, made an investment in me that I appreciate more and more. Her instruction and encouragement helped me recognize an aptitude and love for all sorts of artistic work.

  • …after a bit of a detour.

    My father had wanted me to do something useful with my career like being an engineer or maybe just a guy who wears a suit to work and doesn’t have side burns. So with a good base in math, I started at Clemson University in Mechanical Engineering.

    After 2 meandering years of physics and calculus based instruction, I tried out an introductory Graphic Communications class and fell in love with the program. It’s not an art/design major, but with its alignment to the industries of printing/publishing/packaging, our coursework made use of graphic design tools and techniques. 3 years of catch-up course loads later, I emerged with a BS in GC from CU.

  • From a desire to live out my Christian faith through my career decisions and an invitation from a couple of the staff who knew me well, I applied for a position on staff with Cru, a Christian student organization I had been involved in at Clemson. My first assignment tuned out to be on a regional operations team as a designer.

    Having more training in tools and systems than in actual graphic design, I focused on saving the region money on print decisions as I worked to improve as a designer. Along the way, I was able to work alongside some talented designers and videographers who spurred me on as I produced print pieces for events, designed marketing communication for recruiting strategies, and captured & edited video on-site at our annual winter conferences.

  • for the first time since high school under the care of two working pros in NYC. I was there helping lead a Cru summer mission designed for art students. Our small team of staff mentored students and helped them connect with professional artists in the city. As a perk, I also was able to receive instruction and dedicate time to paint.

    I put my first work in our group’s gallery showing at the end of the summer capping off an memorable experience where I reconnected to a love of art and creating. An even greater value from the experience was meeting Sarah who would inspire my second work in oils. We’re married now.

  • to work on the local Cru campus team after 10 years in operations. This ended up being (unbelievably) a significant boost to my creative development. I was doing all sorts of different design work (fliers, website, T-shirts…) and as I helped produce our weekly student meeting, I began learning all about live production as well. I was running our sound board, running presentation software, and producing video transitions, multimedia games, and weekly announcement slides. It was rewarding to see the event as a project, knocking off the rough edges to produce a quality experience that contributed to growing student attendance and involvement.

  • It’s odd to say I worked as a professional graphic designer for over 10 years on the path to becoming an artist, but that’s how I’d sum it up. When I transitioned from working on campus to Cru’s in-house design team, Creative One Media, many of my lifelong interests, personality and education became aligned through the vision, structure, and support of this team.

    Though my tasks typically line up with my experience in graphic design, I have the space to develop skills in areas like illustration and motion graphics. Creative development and critique are a part of the job. Now, as a Team Leader, I have the platform to invest in others on our team and spur them on the way many others did for me.