When did you first know that art was going to be a big part of your life?
When I was 5 or 6 I came up to my mom and said, "I want to be an artist." Which made her laugh and smile. She told me it sounded good to her, but wanted to know why I'd decided it? I answered "I don't think I want to go to school and learn to read any more." Funny enough I really did decide to be an artist - and now, wanting to be a teacher, I'll never escape school. Also I wanted to be an astronaut, dinosaur, cook/baker, doctor, physicist, anthropologist, writer, musician, actor, director, race car driver, and directive. Point is, I never really decided to be an artist, I decided that being an artist meant I never had to choose.
What does LVA add to your life?
LVA adds that bit of community that I really enjoy seeing interact - it's given me the opportunity to teach, to have a studio space in a massive new building, and to listen in on the gallery whispers that circulate in Louisville. I enjoy seeing them watching and learning from their community and continuously seeking new ideas to better themselves and the city's visual arts playground.
How else are you involved in the community?
At the moment my mind is very narrowed on regenerating my work and teaching where I can. Hopefully I'll quickly start finding my footing here. I've volunteered for different organizations here in the past but the city is all new to me again.
Describe your perfect Sunday afternoon.
Sunday is me day- although it rarely actually is. My family like to do our weekly Kashmir visit for lunch and I tend to try relax for the day. But if we're going to do my perfect Sunday, I'll have to embellish a bit. Let's say I wake up to a full English breakfast. Then I go swimming in the newly imagined creek that runs down the mountains I live under. My dog is there and he enjoys the swim with me without scratching me or barking madly at his reflection. Then I think I'll go rock climbing, nothing too difficult, just a good wall to play on. Then...Kashmir, yeah, still going to eat there for sure. Then I might build something, like a raft to float down the creek on. I'd play guitar for what I believed was ten minutes but what my wife would assure me was actually two hours. Then I might nap outside- it's about 67 out. Lastly I think I would have a gigantic Sunday roast and walk the canal in London - I can teleport I suppose. Then my wife and I would watch our favorite show and go to bed knowing that we could do it all again tomorrow. That sounds about right.
