Art has always been Paul’s destiny, born in Tacoma, Washington in 1948 into a family with a rich artistic heritage. His earliest memories are of sitting on his fathers lap so he could reach the drawing board and sketching.
Almost from the time Paul could walk he was drawn to art preferring to spend his time in a neighbors art studio rather than playing with other children. He was literally cleaning brushes and drawing with charcoal before he entered the first grade. Over the next twelve years Paul continued to spend weekends and summers working with his mentor Bill Bedford a working artist.. During this time he learned to paint portraits, murals and signs as well as cartooning, calligraphy. Paul sold his first piece while still in elementary school when a neighbor bought a charcoal drawing of his daughter that Paul had done for twenty dollars. He had his first cartoon published in the Norton Air Force Base newsletter when he was 11 years old.
In 1966 during the Vietnam War Paul volunteered for the Marine Corps at age 17. During his enlistment, he earned his GED and shortly after his discharge entered Jr. College on the GI Bill as an art major. Already married the financial burden of going to school full time and working to support a wife made it impossible for Paul to continue and was forced to drop out after only a year. After a short stint as a research technician Paul found
A quirk of fate then led him into tattooing where he rapidly established himself as a world-class artist specializing in custom designs and freehand work. Tattooing not only allowed him to work daily on his draftsmanship but also the free time to pursue painting. Over almost a decade spent tattooing, he received an ever-increasing number of requests for his paintings, illustrationsand graphic designs. By 1979, his freelance career had blossomed to a point that he left tattooing.
In 1980 attracted by Paul’s mural and commercial graphic work the owner of Robert Keith & Co. Advertising sought him out and recruited him for the position of Creative Art Director. During the years, he spent heading the department he had the opportunity to personally deal with many of the “Fortune 500″ companies, while refining his artistic skills even further.
In 1985, he joined the Sign and Display Artists Union. A life-long social activist, it was quite natural that he was drawn into the labor movement and workers rights. In 1996, he was elected to the position of Business Representative for Local Union 831, Display and Sign Painters and Tradeshow Workers. Although a slight sidetrack from his art career Paul continued to paint.
In 2001, Paul decided to again concentrate on his first love painting and bring it to the public. You can see the results here before you today.