Fine Art Education/professional

• Full Scholarship Recipient of the Dick Brown Memorial Scholarship and graduate of The School of Visual Concepts 1983-86
• 20 years of commercial Illustration and Fine Art Seattle Washington
• Clients include Stocks and Commodities Magazine, Jan Sport, Kitsap county public health department, King County Green Tools, Commissioned art work, portraits, and murals

Martial Art Education/Titles & Ranks

• 25 years experience in Aikido
• Fukushidoin, certified Aikido Teacher, USAF and Aiki Honbu (World Aikido headquarters in Tokyo)
• Shodan (1st degree black belt) Zan Totsu Ryu Aikido
• Nidan (2nd degree Black belt) USAF Aikido
• Sandan (3rd degree black belt) Ishi Yama Ryu Battojutsu Japanese Swordsmanship
• A full list of instructors/locations is available on request

Music background

• 25 years experience as a professional musician; recording, song writing, guitar, voice, and keyboard)

Programs

• BRIDGE fitness instructor for the Bainbridge Island Public School district in their special needs movement and fitness program(s)
• Chief instructor of Mind and Body Aiki Taiso (Special needs Aikido for children and adults)
• USAF Aikido for youth and adults
• Traditional Japanese Swordsmanship (Iaido) for youth and adult.
• Art and Motion program for children age 4-7
• Voyager Montessori Elementary School Art and Aikido program
• School of rock (band club), private guitar instruction

Bio

At a young age I discovered I could draw the things I saw. This ability along with a desire to improve enabled me the confidence to become an artist. Later when I was in my teens, I picked up a guitar that was left at my home. At first it proved baffling, but when a friend showed me a few chords and scales, I was hooked. I learned that it was just like drawing. Passion, a willingness to practice, and a belief in my self was what I needed to become a musician. At the same time I was introduced into the martial arts. The same was true, a passion for the art coupled with an almost neurotic desire to perfect myself, and I slowly developed into a martial artist.

As an adult I deeply studied three art forms; music, martial movement, illustration and fine art. After studying music in community college and art school, I became a commercial illustrator by day and a professional musician at night. After trying several martial arts I discovered Aikido (the path of blending energy). This beautiful non-violent martial art spoke to my artistic temperament and confirmed my belief that all creative energy can be manipulated into any art form.

So in 2002 my wife and I started the Art Center on Bainbridge Island. I already had been teaching at Island Aikido, a dojo I started in 1995 so the natural progressing was to combine the Art with Aikido. It was only a mater of time before we added music classes. The Art Center on B.I. teaching drawing and Painting evolved into the Island Art Center teaching Art Music and Movement.