Since people have trouble grasping such a concept, it's sometimes easier to give examples from the industry: movies like Toy Story, Antz, and Shrek were modeled and animated with computers; most magazine ads with photographs have been digitally edited or manipulated in some way; most web designers go through the process of color choice, font selection, graphic placement, and image editing (and you can easily tell which ones haven't). But there are also digital artists who make a living much the same way other freelance fine artists do, except their paintbrush is a computer and their canvas is a piece of printer paper, or a web page, or a television screen.

Oh, and one more thing: Computer Art is not Computer Science, nor is it Computer-Aided Drafting. Although I do web design, which sometimes involves something resembling a programming language, I do not write computer programs and I'm not an engineer. There may be people who span all three of these disciplines, but I am not one of them.

So how does all that relate to me?
Most of what will be found on my site categorized as "digital art" is non-commercial, from classes I took in college, although there are exceptions (e.g. the web site for St. Paul UCC). Since graduation, I haven't done much "fine art", and most of my freelance work will be found on the graphic design page.

Much of my earlier digital imaging revolved around scanning and arranging photographs to create a new meaning, as I felt the audience could identify with things they recognized. Sometimes the resulting image served as a bit of humor, other times it had a more serious tone to make a point--or perhaps it was visually entertaining but still had a deeper message. However, I have also enjoyed the freedom that comes from beginning with a blank canvas.

Much of my art has been influenced by my musical talent in some way; once I have an idea of where I am going, often times I will think of each marking as a note or line of music. This helps me see the work as more of a composition, and in a more allegorical sense, rather than as mere marks on a page. It comes as no surprise, then, that in nearly every medium in which I have ventured in art, I have constructed at least one piece with a musical theme as the subject matter.

Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, was the reason I first became interested in art at all (at age seven). Since then, I have taken an interest in M.C. Escher because of his intriguing drawings that appeal to many non-artists. I am also inspired by Romantic painters such as Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt, in that their paintings can attract people through their beauty and technical skill, but are arranged in such a way as to convey a deeper message if one looks for it. I strive for a similar mix in my artwork, so that I can reach as broad an audience as possible, but still see that they experience the same musical expression I envision. If a person walks away from one of my works in the same mood I felt at the time of its creation, I am pleased; if they walk away knowing what I was thinking, then I am happier still.