I grew up in coastal Virginia where salt water filled the air, heat lightening painted the dark and a passing nod between strangers was not something to be avoided. I spent my free time building forts in fallen trees and abandoned cars with my brothers. When I could afford a car, I spent my free time cruising country roads to nowhere, or more accurately, the endless beaches of the Chesapeake Bay. Even more accurately, these cruises would culminate in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Making moments from fluorescent filled shadows, my best friend and I would dream about the possibilities of a world beyond our own, enshrouded in mystery and hope.

I fell into the world of coatings and decided to dig the hole deeper.

For the last decade, my role as an industrial finisher throughout the state of Oregon has led to a life lived in spray booths.

I ran the finish department for two production environments. One fabricated reclaimed wood tabletops and designer wall paneling for well-known companies throughout the U.S. The other manufactured cabinet doors and drawer boxes for makers throughout the region.

Aside from production, I finished for two high end cabinetry builders. After that, a fully equipped spray shop. I now operate my own company, DREAMS Luxury Finishes, from a converted barn on a riverfront property in the heart of the Willamette Valley.

Painting in oils since the age of seven, I developed an intuitive sense of color theory early on that I utilize heavily in my trade. Continually honing this skillset in the world of wood finishes led to my reputation for color matching and high quality stain application. I started matching with dye based formulas in the beginning of my career but quickly shifted to micronized pigments as they made their way to the forefront of production finishing technology. Beyond spraying stain (and all wood coatings) via conventional equipment, I have configured and operated a CEFLA finishing system and a linear coater for large-scale finishing applications.

I currently represent VeroMetal North America as a trainer and am a founding board member of The Finishers Guild of North America. I received the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant shortly after graduating from The Maryland Institute College of Art with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Painting.

As an artist first and foremost, industrial millwork finishes were never going to be enough to satisfy my creative side. I started practicing with Liquid Metal in 2023. Utilizing this material, I intend to bridge the gap between my two worlds and expand upon the possibilities of studio finishes and surface design regionally and abroad. I’ll be pushing the boundaries of traditional painting as far as this path will take me.