Growing up in Vermont, I spent summers fishing the small streams around my house and I was fascinated by the spots and coloration of the small brook trout I used to catch. My first fish art started at age seven with a mechanical pencil, sketch pad, and an issue of Outdoor Life magazine. I realized that I had an eye for detail as tried to mimic every spot and pattern of the trout. "Every spot on every trout is unique,
like no one fingerprint is the same."
I worked at Orvis in Manchester, Vermont from 1994-2000. I started in the retail store and then became a fly fishing instructor after attending the Orvis fly fishing school. My guiding experience started on the Battenkill where I would take students who attended the school out on the river after classes. It was at this time when I realized I found a calling for becoming a fly fishing guide. Slowly, my free time to explore sketching and drawing became less available and my areas of focus changed. I earned my B.S in Environmental Studies from Southern Vermont College in 2000 and dabbled in the corporate world after graduation, but found myself working my way back to my true passion of fly fishing and guiding.
In 2003 I packed up my truck and headed west with only five hundred dollars in my pocket, set to find the next fishing destination. I fly fished my way across the country hitting every river I ever read and dreamt about as a kid.