CURRENT MISSION

As an artist, I would like to be insprired by people I normally wouldn't have the opportunity to get to know.

ABOUT ME

I am a painter of fine art and do occasional freelance illustration work. I have a passion for traditional hot rods and custom cars, owning a '30 Ford coupe I built and am currently building a '39 Buick Sport coupe full custom, both of which are to be used as marketing tools and transportation of art to various venues. I recently moved to RI and am renovating a 4000 sq/ft loft for living, studio and storage space, with a body shop below to work on the cars and metalwork projects. The renovation, which was to take a couple of months to make make livable, has turned into nearly six months and I still don't have heat, hot water or adequate electricity upstairs. This has led to me living in the body shop in the back of a '68 Volvo wagon. Unfortunately, my landlord, who had agreed to fund the project simply didn't, leading to my current situation and lack of funds. I can no longer stand living in the car without essential services and need a break and some interaction with people outside of the building.

PHILOSOPHY

What goes around comes around.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

At this time, my participation is only surfing... Once the above project is completed, I will be fully willing to extend the favor to those who need it.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've found myself on many a couch in the morning in lieu of driving home unsafely after a good night out. This is generally in my youth when I got out and partied more, and rarely in the recent past, however not unheard of. Most of my surfing experience has been out of convenience and/or distance considerations (ie- It's late and I don't want to drive 40 miles home) About 10 years ago, I sprawled across what I thought was a bench at a friends, only to discover in the wee hours that it was two chairs pushed together, which had separated, leaving me dangling in between.

Interests

Art, traditional hot rods and 'Kustoms', discovering new music, watching thought provoking films, a good whiskey, mid-20th Century Americana, getting my hands dirty.

• arts
• illustrations
• coloring
• shopping
• movies
• cars
• painting
• drawing
• metalworking
• music
• surfing
• sports
• communications
• teaching
• freelancing

Music, Movies, and Books

I LOVE films... good and bad. My first job out of school was story-boarding the film IN THE BEDROOM; so... In The Bedroom, U-Turn, Vanishing Point, American Graffiti, 2-Lane Blacktop, Moonshine Highway, Harold and Maude, I Heart Huckabees, Adaptation, Style Wars, Waking Life, Badlands, Easy Rider, Gummo, Funny Car Summer, Muppets (pick a movie), 1950s B movies, Apocalypse Now, United States of Leland, Life Cycles, NOVA documentaries, etc.

Music! Seems like I can't go an hour without hearing something and not go crazy :) Medeski, Martin and Wood, The Bad Plus, John Scofield, Elliott Smith, Clutch, Sam Cooke, Rock-a-Billy, early Fleetwood Mac, Johnny Cash, Captain Beefheart, Jimi Hendrix, The Kings of Nuthin', Pink Floyd, The Faces, Jane's Addiction, Tom Waits, Ween, Scorpions (circa '71 or so), The Black Keys, A Tribe Called Quest, Beck, Brother Ali, Dan Auerbach, OLD country, Cab Calloway, dirty blues... Whatever makes me smile or turn up the stereo; there's not much I don't like, unless it's new "music" with a talentless hack relying solely on an auto-tuner. Justin Bieber sucks and I'd rather listen to cats in heat!

Most of my reading is technical or research/art related, so not a lot of familiar titles to throw out there... anything with FANTASTIC illustrations. I am extremely visually and technically minded. "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri is a favorite book, and one that I often pick up and flip to a random page for inspiration. I also enjoy local histories, being a 13th generation Mainer and currently living in a historic mill complex in RI.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I designed, engineered and built a car from the ground up from a rusty hulk, and can paint masterfully in oil and watercolor. I am not incredibly well traveled, but spent some time in Europe in Italy, France and England and want to go back to appreciate it more.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach basic art skills; drawing, perspective, color theory, scale, foreshortening, composition, media techniques, etc. I was an adjunct professor for a short time, covering for a professor on sabbatical at MassArt. I can also teach basic MIG and stick welding.