I have always been competitive, and have always wanted to be creative. Calligraphy seems to combine the two of those for me, as there is always room to improve and refine the letter forms. I find the endless pursuit of excellence in this art form extremely captivating.
I first tried calligraphy in the 5th grade during an art class. In our family, while growing up, mom required each of her children to have a “creative outlet” to balance our clear obsession with sports. I was taking piano lessons at the time and not particularly enjoying it. When my art teacher mentioned to my mom that I was doing quite well with calligraphy, she offered a swap - calligraphy instead of piano. I took it gladly! I took private lessons for a couple years in middle school, and since then have pursued it as a creative outlet.
In high school and college my focus shifted more to sports. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Whitworth University and was a left handed pitcher on the baseball team for 4 years there as well, graduating in 2015. When my dreams of playing professional baseball did not materialize after college, my passion for calligraphy resurfaced. Between practicing more and attending conferences, I finally came to a point where I wanted to do it in a more professional capacity. So, in 2020, this website and business was born!
I write, and strive to write beautifully, because words have profound significance to our lives. Words have the ability to inspire, encourage, evoke deep emotion, and turn strangers into friends- in short, words are how we navigate life. I believe this is so because of The Word, Jesus Christ, who became a human and lived among us. He is the author of all creation and the source of every word in every language. And, while words themselves carry deep significance on their own, it is my joy, responsibility, and privilege as a calligrapher to be able to enhance the presentation of words and thereby uncover another layer to their significance. The combination of beautifully crafted words presented in beautifully crafted lettering is a thing to behold. I write to try to give words more glory - to give The Word more glory.
I am particularly inspired by the carefully crafted words in songs - both ancient and modern. Our home growing up was filled with music - The Temptations, Handel’s Messiah, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Psalms and Hymns, and always piano or guitar practice. Music is significant to me and certain songs have moved and shaped me in significant ways over the years. It is my hope to pen many songs over the course of my life and make connections with musicians and their fans, delighting in the words and songs together. Connecting people is something good art accomplishes. As C.S. Lewis said, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”
I currently live in Spokane, WA with my wonderful wife, Jessica, and our three children. I hope you enjoy my work and I thank you for spending some of your time here learning more about what I do. I am glad you’re here.
