I moved to Los Angeles in 1988 to attend a makeup effects school and work in the film industry. What better way to fully express my artistic interests than designing and fabricating creatures for movies?
However, special effects jobs generally don't provide a consistent paycheck. While looking for related work, I stumbled into the funeral industry like an open grave. Mortuary work allowed me to further develop my makeup & sculpture skills, gain valuable reference material for horror films, and maintain a flexible schedule when movie projects came along. My newfound intrest compelled me to go on to graduate from Cypress College's Mortuary Science Program in 1990, specializing in restorative art (reconstruction of severe trauma cases).
In the next few following years, I began doing fossil preparation work in the vertebrate paleontology department at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Interestingly, I could readily apply my now well honed skills in sculpting, molding, casting, and painting to paleontology as I prepare fossils; filling in the missing pieces to real monsters in an effort to resurrect them from the past for display in the present.
Dinosaurs, as well as prehistoric beasts that have yet to be discovered, stimulate our imaginations and motivated me to become more proficient in art as it applies to science. Graduating from California State University Northridge in 2002 with a degree in sculpture, I continue to work full-time at the museum and part-time as an independant contract embalmer.
Now, when Halloween creeps around each year, I find the culmination of my past experience and continuous need for artistic expression possesses me to carve pumpkins! This ancient art is rich in history, but allows each of us to apply our own individual modern, macabre twist. I hope some of my squash sculptures will inspire you to carve something completely different than the not so scary triangle eyes. Yes, it's time to,"think outside the squash!" Embrace your most frightening thoughts, and impliment them as your sharpest carving knife to design a truly unique, Halloween decoration.
|
