My Story

I was born in 1976—a Bicentennial baby—raised as a latchkey kid on the south side of Scranton, Pennsylvania, scraping my knees in alleyways and learning early how to hold my own. Like a lot of Generation X kids, I grew up fast, learned humor as armor, and figured out how to read people before I knew how to name what I was sensing. Independence wasn’t a philosophy—it was survival.

At 17, I joined the United States Marine Corps. I turned 18 in boot camp. I served nearly ten years on active duty, absorbing the discipline, clarity, and oath-bound sense of responsibility that comes from operating inside high-stakes systems. After leaving active service, I continued my work in service—as an addictions counselor within the Department of Defense—sitting with people at their most fractured, learning how systems shape behavior, and how care, truth, and accountability actually work in real bodies and real lives.

This work—my art, my writing, my designs, my projects—is the integration of all of that. Art is how I play, but it’s also how I tell the truth. How I confront what we avoid. How I translate lived experience into form, symbol, humor, and challenge. If money were no object, if I knew I could not fail, this is what I would be doing: creating work that helps people remember who they are, where they come from, and how to stand upright inside complicated systems without losing their nervous systems or their souls.

This isn’t a brand built to chase trends. It’s a body of work built from experience, service, and a deep respect for story. It’s for people who have lived, served, survived, questioned, and are still curious. It’s for those who know that play can be serious, that beauty can be confrontational, and that art—done honestly—is a form of leadership.