These days, my strawberry blond hair has gone more grey than Irish red, however. Ha!

Growing up with a family of Irish German wit and fanciful tales has certainly shaped my personality. Scared stiff by stories of the bogieman from my Uncle Art (shown in his favorite position below), I learned to thrive on the visions from my vivid imagination and thankfully, turned those scary thoughts into art!

Halloween has long been my absolute favorite holiday. That, plus a steady diet of television shows like Dark Shadows, The Twilight Zone, The Night Stalker (oh, Darren, I do miss you!) and the Outer Limits all helped mold my tiny brain into the oddity it is today.

I grew up with this creepy mansion as a playground. It is actually The Mountain Springs Hotel and a part of my home town's historical properties. Over the years, it was used as a hospital, a hotel for health seekers and as a camp for a group of "spiritualists" who conducted séances and other strange acts there. Locals call it simply "The Spooks". 

Is it any wonder that I became an eccentric artist? 
I think not.