From an early age, I’ve had a passion for creating art and building three dimensional models. My father, a former prop designer for the Walt Disney Company, always supported my creative endeavors, which also led me to pursue a career with Disney. After my over 41 year career at the Walt Disney Company, I retired in December of 2020, from Walt Disney Imagineering.
My journey started at Walt Disney World, selling balloons on Main Street at age 16. After receiving an Associates Degree in Design in college I was able to join the original field installation team that built the Epcot Park at Walt Disney World. As a set designer and field installation team member, I had the amazing opportunity to work with and learn from many veteran Imagineers, a few who had worked directly with Walt Disney. By the end of my Epcot field installation experience, I had the great fortune to help the Imagineering team build and open three of the Epcot Park’s main attractions, The Land Pavilion, The Imagination Pavilion and the Horizons Pavilion.
After the opening of Epcot in 1982, I was accepted into the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California to continue to evolve my art and design education where I graduated with honors. After graduation, I was rehired by the Walt Disney Imagineering team to design and open the Disneyland Paris Park as part of the Fantasyland Team. After the successful opening of Disneyland Paris, I became a Creative Director for the design of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World. I then went on to help develop two Interactive Play Areas for the first two Disney Cruise Line ships, After, I went on to Art Direct a new “It’s a Small World” attraction for the Hong Kong Disneyland park, then became the Executive Creative Director of the Disneyland Paris Imagineering Design Studio. I returned to the USA to focus on projects in Florida again as the Creative Director for the “Seven Dwarfs Mine Train” and the “Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid” attractions at The Magic Kingdom. Before my retirement, I was the overall Executive Creative Director for Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios park and Art Directed one of its main anchor attractions, the “Slinky Dog Dash” coaster.
I have been painting my whole life and it continues to be a passion for me. Traveling and living all over the world, both personally and for exploration for Disney Projects, I’ve always documented my journeys by doing “plein air” on location paintings and travel sketchbooks. Photos alone for me never capture the essence of a location like paintings and sketches. Only when painting and drawing a place, or subject, in person would I feel that I could capture the true spirit of what I saw and felt about my surroundings. And for me the best way to retain those memories for future studio work.
Capturing the essence of what I see in the world and translating that into my paintings is what I strive for. My hope is that my work will show others a perspective or a beautiful moment in our world that will inspire them, and that they may have otherwise overlooked.
I currently live and work in Windermere, Florida.