I’m from the Lower Hudson Valley, in upstate New York—Tomkins Cove, Stony Point, just south of Bear Mountain along the Hudson River. It was a small town, the kind where as a kid you play baseball all day in the summer, and then ride your bike afterward to the grocery store to get a cold bottle of Coke to cool off.

I grew up in Sea Gate, Brooklyn which was very close to Coney Island. My mother was an Ab Ex painter, and my father was a photographer, so the conversations about art were ongoing, and prolific.

My undergraduate and graduate degrees are in Art Education. My exposure to and education in visual art and art history were in service to becoming an art educator. My creative practice was put aside for about 15 years while teaching art full-time, working towards a Masters degree in Art Education and raising a family.

I was born in Czechoslovakia. My family left and became political refugees in the early 80's. After spending a few months in a refugee camp in Austria we moved to New York. Have been here ever since working in art, film and advertising.

I never thought to become an artist in my life. In my first profession I was a pastry chef. Later on, I was serving for many years as a police officer as well as being a commander in the Austrian Anti-Terrorist-Unit COBRA. But in 2001 during my time at this unit I had a deep urge to work creatively.

With an intense passion for drawing and wanting to see the world, recognition at Oklahoma State University led to a scholarship and apprenticeship with Master Printer Bill Goldston at Universal Limited Art Editions in New York. On my very first day in New York, I met Jasper Johns who had come to work on a new print edition.