In Kindergarten I discovered a talent for drawing.  I wrote and illustrated a charming little story called “The Little Engine That Could”.  Unknowingly I also discovered a talent for plagiarism.   A few years later my childhood friend Luke Oosterhouse and I developed a character with a penchant for building.  In Junior High I developed a character named ‘Bionic Moses’.  This was during the height of popularity of a certain TV show with similar characteristics.  Unfortunately the story line revolved around Moses (bionic, remember?) doing all the miracles instead of God.   My mom said it was ‘spottin’. (sic)

  I had done other illustrations and cartoons during my High School career and then soon after H.S. I moved to L.A. with a friend.  I was always drawing during these times but never developing anything.  Two years later I moved back to Michigan and enrolled in Kendall School of Art and Design.  I lasted one semester before I met my lovely wife Marcelle who is an LPN.  We were engaged in 6 weeks and married in six months.  Evidently not recommended by the experts but it worked for us because we’ve been happily married since 1986. 

  Our son Tyler joined us in 1990 and our daughter Celeste in 1992.  They are both extremely talented in their own right.  Tyler is an accomplished artist going way beyond anything I’ve ever done.  I call his work ‘Heroic Fantasy’.  He also loves acting.  Celeste is an accomplished pianist and Trumpetest.  She also has an extremely developed design sense.

  It wasn’t until 1990 that I actually made my first professional cartoon sale.  The Christian Reformed Church has a denominational magazine called “The Banner”.  They ran a cartooning contest that my father-in-law urged me to enter.  I entered five cartoons and they bought them all.  Since then I’ve expanded into other magazines and illustrated three books.  And of course there’s ‘Toonfever’ which my friend Ted Kuik designed and administered  until 2007 when I took over the reins.  The bulk of the cartoons on ‘Toonfever’ are rejects from various publication sources.  Probably makes you wonder what WAS selected, eh?

  As for personal interests I’m a bibliophile and an Anglophile.  I love to read and collect books.  Some favorite authors are: Raymond Chandler, P.G. Wodehouse, Gerald Durrell, Tim Dorsey, J.R.R. Tolkein, Terry Pratchett and Alastair Reynolds. I also have over a thousand cartoon and comic books or graphic novels if you prefer.  From Charles Addams to the New Yorker, from Marvel Comics to Dark Horse.  

  I also love Electronic music and this is mainly what I listen to when drawing.  Artists include: Redshift, Rogue Element, Arc, Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, Create, Syndromeda, Keller and Schonwalder and a whole lot more.  Unfortunately there isn’t much of an Electronic music scene in the States so almost all the artists I enjoy are from the continent.  And most of those are from the U.K.  I also enjoy some Industrial, specifically Front Line Assembly.

  During the daylight hours I work at Sunset Manor in the maintenance department so you can see that I work with my hands in whatever I do.  Some brain required!  I hope this gives you some insight into the man who draws these cartoons.