So I was born and raised here in Salisbury, MD. Art has always been apart of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up as a kid i can remember walking around and my Grandfather Casper Whartons Sign Shop. He had already retired by that time but I can still remember seeing all the brushes and hand drawn sign sketches and the smell of the paint. A lot of my influences include skate artist such as Jim Philips and Vernon Courtlandt Johnson also artist like Ed Roth and Von Franco. All through school I remember drawing on everything I could papers folders walls decks lol pretty much anything that sat still to long. With Having ADHD I strived in Art and Music. Yup I played and still break it out once in a while the Trombone. My senior year I was accepted into the Visual Performing Arts program (VPA) In Wicomico County.
After graduating in 1998 I got into the Aircooled Volkswagen scene pretty heavy. Ive owned built sold etc.. well over 200 of them by this point. My parents were very supportive of my Volkswagen habit it kept my mind busy, I was learning and it kept me out of trouble. Still to this day my house is referred to as the house with all the VWs. I also am the founder and president of Strictly VW’s auto club here in Maryland-Delaware.
Around 2004 the rat rod scene started to get big and I built a vert VW rat to cruise around in. My good friend Scott Boyce said your good at art you should try Pinstriping. He gave me a can of pink 1shot and a Mack sword brush to practice with and the rest was history. I practiced everyday on everything I could find. About a year after that I linked up with Kevin Dunworth at the time Loaded Gun Customs now Dunworth Machines. Kevin motivated me to start branching out and I pinstriped my first motorcycle. That bike went on to be featured on Discovery Channels Cafe Racer Tv and was also on the cover of Cafe Racer Magazine. Talk about a huge motivator right out of the gate. Soon after that I started working with other builders such as Adam Karns of Karns Kustoms and Irons Kustoms. Bikes from these builders have won loads of national awards and have been featured in magazines all over the world. I am so humble to have had friends like these that have helped me get to where i am today.