My story
I have always been fascinated by illustration. Like most kids, I started drawing at about the age of two. I was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, and my school years were difficult. I was a bullied at school and I found an escape in drawing. After graduating from high school in 1991, I decided to pursue a career in computer programming, but soon changed my studies to Human Science.
In 1994, I traveled across Canada to Victoria, British Columbia, where I worked for the summer. It was there that I was influenced by the Native Coast Salish art — and you can still see it in my art today. When I came back, I moved out of my parent’s home, found work in a restaurant, and dropped out of college with only two classes to finish.
In the summer 1995, I decided to hitchhike my way back to the Okanagan Valley in B.C. to work outside in the fresh air for the summer. When I came back, I was starving and had the starving artist thing completely figured out, I enrolled in a Visual Arts diploma program and moved onto Art History at the University of Montreal. However, it didn’t take me long to realize I needed to create art than study artist’s creations.
With only a diploma and no work experience in visual arts, I started working in call centers, which is where I met the love of my life, Diane. We were both in relationships at the time, so remained friends. Eventually Diane left Montreal to be with her Moncton fiancé.
The day she called me to invite me to her wedding was the worst day of my life. I realized that she was the love of my life was leaving and I was with the wrong woman. I immediately broke off the relationship I was in. As as fate would have it, Diane’s fiancé broke off their engagement a week before their wedding day. Devastated, Diane called me and I finally found the courage to tell her how I felt. I moved to Moncton and we’ve been together ever since.
Along the way, my beautiful son, Samuel, was born.
Then depression hit, and I spent seven months in a dark place before finally realizing that I needed to follow my passion, which was art. So I enrolled in the Graphic/Web Design program at McKenzie College in Moncton in 2005. I was so passionate about my art I graduated with flying colors and then did contract work until 2008.
In 2008, I began working for Girvan Media and stayed until June 2012 when I decided that it was time for me to walk my own path.
So here I am today walking my own path. I was born an artist, and I consider myself so fortunate and grateful to be doing what I love.
About Sam
In April 2006, our son Samuel was born. Not having much experience with children, we thought he was fine at first, but as he grew into toddler hood, it became more and more obvious that Sam was not at the same level of learning as others his age. By 2009 he was diagnosed with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the least affected of 7 levels of the disorder.
In 2010, Sam was accepted into the Hebert Center for specialized learning in Dieppe, New Brunswick. The Center helped Sam learn what are the basics for us. Then in 2011, Sam started kindergarten and wow the reports that we were receiving were outstanding, he has been growing and learning ever since.
Social aspects like hugging and playing with other kids do not come naturally to Sam; we had to teach him these behaviors through repetition and still have to ask sometimes.
Sam is a pretty typical kid in a lot of ways. He likes school, but doesn’t like homework. His favorite things to do are drawing and playing games on his tablet. He has a select number of friends that he plays with. Sam’s senses are much stronger than the typical child’s and he is especially sensitive to sound. He loves crunchy foods.
He is super creative and thrives in routine; it took weeks for him to be comfortable participating in music class at school, but everyone who knows him understands that Sam needs to accept change on his terms.
Sam is progressing well in school. He is great at solving math problem. His Teacher’s Aide explains the problem visually and within 15 seconds or less, he gets it. He’s so good at it that other students in his class look to him to show them how to figure it out. He can also finish a puzzle in the blink of an eye and run like a flash of lightning.
But I’m most amazed by Sam’s growing artistic ability. What started out as me drawing the head of an animal for him to finish when he was sick on day has turned into collaborative art [insert link to collaboration gallery] and I can see how much he has improved in just a short time.
Soon after Sam was diagnosed, I found a way to combine my love for him with my love of art to help his cause — I donate 20% of all my profits to a local autism center. Sam is very proud of the fact that he is creating art that people want to buy and that some of the proceeds go to help kids like him be who they are meant to be.
Some people might consider having a child with autism a challenge, but my wife Diane and I see it as a blessing. We are the lucky ones. Most parents don’t get to experience small miracles every day like we do.