I was born in Mora, Minnesota. I developed an early talent for art as my father, a dairy farmer, drew portraits and landscapes on rainy days. He gave me an early exposure to the patience and discipline of drawing and fittingly for my profession, I pass on that same shared discipline.
I attended North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Visual Art. Toward the middle of my B.S. in Art, I started co-attending NDSU’s sister school, Valley City State University, studying Art Education. One semester after I earned my B.S. in Art at NDSU, I earned my B.S. in Art Education from VCSU. My college years were busy academically, but also personally. I married my wife, Alyssa during the fourth year of college. Two years later, my first daughter Isabelle was born during the final semester of my Art Ed degree. I graduated in December 2008 and moved my family back to mine and my wife’s home town of Mora, where we had our second daughter, Emma. I patiently worked odd jobs hoping to find a full time teaching position. I was fortunate enough to soon be hired to teach 7-12 grade Art full-time in Silver Bay, Minnesota, where I taught for three years. I was also a Jr. High football coach, the Assistant Varsity Baseball coach, and the head summer baseball coach for all three years there. I am currently studying for my masters in Art Education, online, through the University of Nebraska Kearney.
I consider myself well rounded in the arts with interests in drawing, music, and performance. I fancy myself a drawer but I also enjoy digital photography. I spent a great deal of my undergraduate degree drawing digitally. I also greatly enjoy music. I taught myself guitar and bass guitar (and enough piano that I can "fake" like I'm almost a real piano player) and over the dozen years I’ve played, I’ve written over 400 songs, with about 120 still in written or recorded existence. I’m not a professional singer, nor am I a Jimmy Hendrix on the guitar, but I enjoy playing and recording. In Silver Bay, I was able to fund raise and introduce a Film and Sound Creation course, which the student body loved. Also, for several years, I worked evenings on KBEK radion in Mora as an in-studio announcer.
Some of my hobbies include running 5k and 10k races, playing slow pitch softball, and working on cars. I am excited to be back in my "home" area of the state of Minnesota, and excited to be teaching in Pine City.