I was born in Seattle, Washington in 1974. I grew up in a small town called 'Chimacum' on the Olympic Peninsula with my little brother and parents before moving to Whidbey Island to graduate in the class of 1992.

According to my mom, I was always an artist. She and my Uncle Chappell nurtured my creativity, even pairing me up with Tom Robbins to illustrate his book, 'Illusion', when I was eight. When asked back then what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would always say 'I'm going to be an artist!'

I went to college at Arizona State University before transferring up to Canada to complete my animation degree. Meanwhile I taught snowboarding and tour-guided, all the while learning and teaching French.

When I graduated with my BFA from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, I had four films under my belt and a ticket to San Francisco where I would go to teach film-making and video game design at the UC Davis campus. I was always sure to encourage my students and their dreams of becoming artists and film-makers, since I understood how discouraging this dream could be at times!

While completing my degree in Montreal I became fascinated with the medium of 3D animation, as I found I was finally and literally able to manifest my dreams. This remains one of my foremost hobbies...