I came from a large, poor, Mormon, working-class family of 5, complete with underlying drug and alcohol issues. I lived a life of normalized chaos, without understanding what it was. -After all who does, when you're a kid growing up in any life-situation?

I tended to unfixable issues I could not control, without realizing they were problems at all. I was not afflicted with addictions, but did live in the situations of those that were.

I desperately wanted to fly away from these realities. I felt sure there was more to life than what I lived in.

I discovered a voice through my Art; through creativity.

I won Art contests in grade school. I learned escape from the world I knew, through the simple nature of a pencil sketch and a love of comic books.

I found a mentor in my High School Science Teacher, Mr. Donahue.

He befriended me, and opened my mind to Paganism, World Religions, the Hero’s Journey, Mythology and the idea that my life was not defined by my circumstances.

Since then, I have spent my life connecting my art to my life-long quest for spirituality, This began as a rejection of Mormonism, and grew into a need to find a deeper truth.

I blend comparative religions, cultures and mythologies with a deep love for the natural world into my art. These ideas are what I paint and create.

I want my art to connect people to their own inner truths, to their own inner worlds.

I hope that my love of nature, mythology, and legends and folklore from cultures worldwide can help others find their own inner center, in a world filled with distraction and needless chaos.

I believe my art can help people to see that there is harmony to be found, for those who choose to look for it.

A WORD ON MY PROCESS:

Each painting for me is a kind of adventure.

I paint things that move me, and hope that some truth about the world I see can be revealed within.

I work and rework a painting until it finds me. 

I use color to evoke mood and essence.

I find a sense of grace within the natural world, and seek to share these impressions with others, hoping they might find beauty there as well.

-Andy C.