My first job as an illustrator was with a screen printer in the prepress department. I learned a great deal not only about prepress, but about printing in general. My first designer job was working for Creative Approach Group, an advertising agency in Greenville, North Carolina. I was attending East Carolina University and needed a part time job. A friend of mine knew the owner of CAG and put in a good word for me. I was given the opportunity to work with many different clients (Rubbermaid, Fasco Fans, UNX, etc.) and handled various responsibilities within the company. I looked for every opportunity to do as many different kinds of things as I could. One of the reasons I was hired was for my illustrative abilities so I was able to work on most of the illustrations needed. I was also introduced to FreeHand, Photoshop, and PageMaker and fell in love with working on the computer. I worked there until I graduated with a BFA in 1995, then moved to Rocky Mount and took a postion as a designer with Veillette Advertising Design.

At Veillette I worked on different kinds of projects (tradeshow booths, magazine and billboard ads, web design, and products for the food industry). It also allowed me to work more directly with clients such as MBM, Hardee's, Whiteco outdoor advertising, UNX, Fidelity Bank, and Torpedo Specialty Wire.

I went on to work as a senior artist for The Education Center. After about five years there, I went on to manage the digital department of PosterPrints and was the creative director at Carson Dellosa Publishing. I've always had an intense work ethic when it comes to making my employers/customers happy (no matter what my job was), but contracting and working with freelancers has helped me better understand and appreciate the importance of quality work, professional attitudes, and responsible work habits when it comes to working with contract labor.

My love of illustration has taken me back to freelance work now. Freelancing has provided me with opportunities to work on projects I normally wouldn't and with companies such as IBM, Edit Quickly, Wind River Publishing, Poisoned Pen Press, Green Ronin Publishing, InterGalactic Medicine Show, Carrington Painting, Goodman Games, Southeastern Theatre, The Games Machine, Words2Work, and Roly Poly Sandwiches among others.

I spend as much time as I can now with my wife of sixteen years and our four daughters. I had no sisters when I was growing up so I didn't know what to expect having nothing but girls. There's a great deal more pink in the house than there would be otherwise, but I have to say that I'm having the time of my life so far. I'm just not looking forward to the dating years, but I'll tackle that when I get there.