MY LIFE SO FAR...
Here's a little bit of information about me...
I was born in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada on January 7, 1964. I grew up in Brampton, Ontario, attended post-secondary studies at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1987 with a Bachelors Degree in English and History, with a Minor in Sociology. I stayed on another year and collected a Masters Degree in Modern Military History and Anglo-American relations. From there, I left to work with the Brampton Public Library as a Library Technician, organizing programming for children. In 1990, I returned to the University of Toronto to complete my Bachelor of Education degree and became an employee of the Durham District School Board in 1991.
In the years since I started, I shifted my teaching interests from English and History to Visual Arts and Media. To support this change in direction, I upgraded my skills through taking courses in Photography and Multimedia at Durham College, and in taking a computer course at the International Academy of Design in Toronto. I have also taught art privately, and through institutions like Curry's Art in Whitby, Ontario, and the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario.
Among other things I've done is act as a staff advisor for the school yearbook and be a sympathetic ear for the many students I teach as they try to survive living their complicated lives. Both jobs are very challenging in this day and age. I am also leading an underground movement with a number of my students to genetically alter all humans to look like Japanese manga characters, and to replace all personal transport, like cars, with environmentally friendly giant robots.
In my past, I have been involved the local arts world. In 1997, I received a Civic Arts Achievement award from the City of Brampton, for work I had done at the national level. I have exhibited twice at the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa, have also had work displayed at the Durham District School Board offices, the Granite Club, the Brampton Public Library, participated in the Mayor's calendar project for the City of Brampton in 1996, acted as a photographer for the band Ghost Road, won an honourable mention in an international postcard art show, and had work published in an alphabet book published by Visual Arts Brampton. I have sold artwork ranging from landscapes to aviation themes to collectors in Canada and the United Kingdom. The Kaiten Angels represents my latest project, and was born from my growing involvement in computer generated art and Japanese manga.
Currently, the Kaiten Angels are being used as teaching tools in my art programme at the school where I teach in Oshawa, helping students grasp better the concepts of figure drawing, computer design, and narrative art. This has helped students with little background in art focus on something of interest to them, giving them the desire to attempt challenging projects on their own.