Chris has always had a soft spot for the arts and loves that his kids enjoy drawing and painting, too. He grew up playing the saxophone for 13 years and, after graduating high school, attended culinary school and worked as a cook. His passion for drawing started as a sophomore in high school and has stayed with him through the years. Initially, discouraged from drawing with color, he started out drawing in black and white, often drawing portrait pictures or comic book characters. After studying graphic design online at AIU his art has lead him on a journey through different styles and mediums, ultimately leading him to love painting with ink and creating ink wash paintings (or in Japanese “sumi-e”). He has also liked incorporating circles in his art and after stumbling on the Eastern calligraphy practice of Ensō (Japanese “circular form”). He began to apply these techniques and principles and his style of painting began to echo the Eastern practice of sumi-e .

The things Chris loves most about this style of painting is the monotone nature of using black ink and sparsely adding splashes of color. There is a challenge of finding balance in the minimalistic approach, and finding beauty even within the imperfections as the paper permanently records every brushstroke. In doing so, the essence of a subject is found rather than a direct interpretation.