As a five year old boy, I was the youngest out of 4 kids. We also had a pet beagle named Rocky. I used to want to be too close to the dog. I put my face in Rocky’s face one to many times and he bit me right on the cheek by my eye! I learned that lesson the hard as they put Rocky down for bitting me.
My big seven year old sister blamed me for his death and told me that I was adopted and that I was Japanese! She also said that if I told her parents that I knew I was adopted, they would put me down like they did Rocky the beagle ! Death!!! For two whole years I believed my sister... I was excited and believed I was a distant relative to samurais and maybe even royalty!
It was during this time that I began my journey with Buddhism and Asian art! I started drawing tigers, dragons and foodogs abd more. I began to draw demons and blamed them for my lessons and downsides in life. It has been a healthy way for me to bring my attention to my personal issues that need dealing with. I even became deeply interested in Taoist Buddhism at 5 years old !
My teacher finally alerted my mother that I didn’t think I belonged to her or my family. Then it all came out about my sister's story of my adoption! I was upset and became depressed that I wasn’t Japanese for a bit but I grew to love and accept myself, my family and especially my big sister!
As a teenager I had a few too many underage drinking tickets! I never did have a drinking issue, I was just in a small town that had police with nothing better to do but chase young people around. Anyway, I got lucky and landed community service with the local high school ceramics teacher. It was there that I discovered my natural talents and passion for sculpting in clay! I currently reside in Honolulu Hawai’i, I became a professional ceramic artist in 2004.