I first began dabbling in digital art and photography back in 2000 and 2003 respectively. My actual day job has always been in the field of animal care while my part/full-time hobby has been my artwork. I have always taken a very simplistic approach to my work, therefore, I have never had any formal training or schooling for either of my disciplines. I prefer to learn and discover things on my own and at my own pace while trying not to take myself too seriously. When it comes to my digital work I have never been entirely sure how to categorize most of what I create. There are fractals and fractal manipulations, as well as photography and photo manipulations. It’s the stuff that comes in between those categories that I sometimes have the most fun working with and it’s usually within this area that I feel the most creative. Basically, there are three elements to my digital work: color, design or pattern, and texture. It’s the third element, texture, that’s my favorite and a little bit of a wild card. Part of my photography is finding things with interesting textures. I will then incorporate those textures into my work or even have the texture itself be the starting point of a piece. Trying to find a perfect balance with these elements in order to create something that I find visually appealing, whether it’s bold and striking or more subtle and calming, that’s my own personal challenge for this type of work. On the other hand I have my photography. I mostly stick to nature because that is what I love. I do my best to present the world as I see it…simple and beautiful. As I have improved over the years my own goal is to limit, if not completely eliminate, any post processing. Unless I am specifically creating a photo manipulation piece, I try to take the photo as perfectly as I can while out in the field. Moving forward I am looking to transition into a full time artist, continue improving the quality of my work and also expand my horizons into the realm of mixed media.