And then tell me a little bit about your work now. What are you doing? What are you focusing on?

I do a couple of different things. I primarily paint murals around the country—residential, commercial, and small business murals. I have a studio practice where I paint canvases and create digital art for art licensing projects. I feel like it's ever-changing. I dabble in a lot of experimental stuff too, like making mobiles or playing with resin, trying out how I can push myself into new directions and expand my designs to other mediums.

Nice. I'm impressed. So you had an agency job for a year before realizing it wasn't for you. I'm kind of impressed that A) it didn't take you that long to figure that out and B) you escaped it. I feel like most people stick it out for longer than that. Was there a specific incident or a main motivation that really made you realize that lifestyle wasn't for you?

That's a good question. I was spending every lunch break at my desk drawing in sketchbooks, and I just felt like being on screens all day—I was creating mood boards, I was designing for a major tobacco brand—and I was just craving more creatively. I think in my gut, I knew it wasn't sustainable for me. I was working pretty long hours and weekends too. So I think everything just kind of added up and within a year, I was pretty certain that I wanted to be doing something else.

Makes sense. I feel like I've always wondered about your work specifically. I don't know if this is really a defined question—it's probably a little bit vague—but how did you get to the current style that you're doing and do you see yourself evolving ongoing as an artist? Because you have a very specific style in your work. Do you see yourself getting sick of it someday or could you do this style for the rest of your life? Do you feel like you need to evolve and change for the sake of changing? Does that even make sense?

It makes perfect sense. Within the 17 years of working independently, my style has changed direction significantly three times, and this is where I'm at now. My current work is a reflection of the inner child and the idea of reconnecting with our younger selves. But how I got here—if you look at the previous styles, I think there's a steady evolution.

So I am curious what's next. I don't have a specific plan in mind. It probably will involve changing color palettes—maybe pursuing a more neutral, more muted palette at some point. I'm curious about that. I'm also curious about expanding mediums. That really intrigues me.

I think where I'm at right now feels good and I'll continue doing this for a while, but I don't know. In the past, it seems that there's always been correlations with significant changes in my personal life, which my work then really reflects as well. So we'll see.

Cool. Have you ever lived anywhere outside of Chicagoland?

No. This is where I've always lived.

What keeps you in Chicago?

My dad, my family. But also, I think once I started building a business here, I felt like it was important to stick around. And now that I am here for so long too, I feel like I could work from other cities if I wanted to, but I'm pretty comfortable. It's nice being centrally located in the country as well. It's easy to fly out when I need to. Friends and family are a big piece of why I stay here.

Cool. I like to ask people to kind of shout out places, things they like about Chicago—any restaurants you like to hang out in, bars, museums, galleries.

Of course. I love—well, I live in Logan Square, I work in Logan Square. Lula Cafe has been one of the first spots I ate at when I moved to the city, and now I've been going there for 21 years. I love the Empty Bottle. Gosh — there’s just so many great spots! Meadowlark is great. I've been going to Chicago Music Exchange with my dad since I was a kid—that's a place on Lincoln Avenue we've always gone to. I work with animal rescues, so definitely shout out to them—PAWS and One Tail at a Time. There's so many.

When you're not working on art, what are you doing in your spare time as a hobby?

Currently, I'm really focusing on my health and my self-care. I've been going to sound baths, I've been doing acupuncture, I've been learning more about Eastern medicine and that's been a focus right now. I work with animal rescues, fostering dogs. Come here, Ralphie! You're a monster. (Laughs)

Yeah, fostering dogs. I started an artist bowling team last year, which I hope to get started up again soon.

Is there an artist or two you want to shout out? Someone you're a big fan of, maybe someone a little less mainstream that you want to give some love to? Could be any genre—music, visual.

I think I'm gonna shout out Clay Kerr. I met Clay at Art Basel two years ago. I feel like I've known him forever, but he photographed most of my projects in 2025 and that led to a really great friendship. I'm so supportive and inspired by the stuff he's been doing and I really appreciate him as a person.

Dream destination—favorite place you've ever visited outside Chicago and/or dream destination place you've always wanted to go but never have been.

My favorite place I've ever traveled to is St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. John is so magical—it's 75% national forest, and to get to all the beaches, you have to hike. There's no parking lots. You can rent a Jeep, but other than that, there's really not many people driving around or anything. There's iguanas, there's donkeys—the wildlife is just unbelievable. And then there's these giant green sea turtles in all the bays, which is incredible.

Where do I want to go? I want to go to Banff in Canada, the Canadian Rockies. I've always wanted to go. The photos, the colors, the nature, the hidden tea houses—it just sounds so magical.

Cool. Anything you want to end on? Last thoughts? Something you're looking forward to?

I'm looking forward to my new studio in Garfield Park. I'm super stoked about that and being in a new environment. I think it's gonna creatively impact me a lot.

Appreciate it. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.