In 1999, a near-death experience changed the course of my life and sent me on an unplanned journey across the Atlantic. I roamed through Europe with no map or agenda, letting the act of moving become its own kind of healing. Along the way, I met the woman who would become my wife, a meeting that led me to France and the slower pace of Amiens, a small town north of Paris where my creative life began to take shape.

 

In France, I dove into learning the language, practicing the saxophone, and exploring new ways of listening and expressing. Almost by chance, I picked up a paintbrush for the first time and discovered art as a form of therapy. Painting became a way to process what I’d been through, calm my mind, and turn emotions into color and form. What started as a personal refuge grew into a lifelong practice.

 

My creative world expanded again in the mountains of Chamonix, where I spent 4 years climbing massive granite walls. The scale, silence, and focus those cliffs demanded still influence my work. Today, my paintings reflect these intertwined journeys: survival transformed into expression, wandering into devotion, and a life rebuilt through language, music, movement, and the healing power of art.