Where did you grow up and when did you decide to become an artist?
I grew up in the United States in a small town surrounded by farms in western N.J. called Stewartsville. The town has a rich history and was originally settled in the 1700’s. My parents moved there with my family which consisted of two older sisters an older brother and myself when I was two years old. My father built a grocery store next to the house and was a butcher and store owner by trade. My mother was a hair dresser who worked in the store and had a beauty salon attached to our house. It was all in the center of town with one blinking stop light. The house I grew up in was a historic old stone house built in 1750 by George Washington’s secretary’s brother and the secretary William Stewart (Stewartsville) named the town and settled there. Unbelievable but true and it is documented in a several historical books about the town. Wanting to be an artist was a gradual and natural thing. My first career choice as a child was to become a home run hitter for the San Francisco Giants. Like many kids I idolized Willie Mays and wanted to play baseball for a living. With lack of talent in that area we all know that didn’t work out.