mesh

I'm an animator, a motion graphics generalist and occasionally an art director, with experience across multiple pipeline workflows. I know 2D/3D but I'm fully aware there's more stuff that I don't know that I don't even know exist, which I don't know. I've recently gotten into videography, so if you know more than me, I won't turn down good advice. I'm happy to trade notes on setting up a studio environment, if you're looking to put one together.

I've played the tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, and own a guitar and uke, but lets just say I'm not great with strings. I studied under private tutelage with the Royal Conservatory of Music and its curriculum/syllabus. I went through the history, theory, and practical programs, but neglected to complete the ARCT/LRCT academic diplomas. I moved into blues and found new love for playing instead of focusing on the academic performance of chamber music. After doing my stint with a small symphony and community bands/jazz bands, I've moved on, but still hold a deep appreciation for classical, modern, contemporary, and rythymic music the world over. I've tried karimba, ocarina, harmonica, and tablas, but I couldn't get the knack. I still frequent our cities symphony orchestra to watch classical peformances, and live rehearsals of film and videogame scores.

I love games. I play a lot of PC competitive shooters, leaning into arena-likes. Mainly quake, apex, halo, destiny 2, overwatch 2, or grinding out kovaaks. I still LAN, though now I have a more relaxed approach to competition, unless it's tournament format, and then you'll see a different side of me. I love the journey of working on mechanical skill and gamesense, and if you're similar, let me know and we might crank out some matches! I have ~1000 games on steam, and I love co-ops, heck, I love sharing awesome in-game moments with good people.

Animals bring me joy, and I involve myself with them a couple ways. I'm a marine biology/ecosystem enthusiast. I'm part of a yearly support program -not quite a benefactor- and volunteer for marine mammal rescue with our aquarium. I trained under a multiple Canadian nationals title holder/world championship competitor for Schutzhund training with German Shepherd Dogs. I've used bite arm sleeves, and full bite suits, and I'll say this, it still hurts. I have a deep appreciation for reptiles and amphibians, I'd like to work up to owning and training a large tegu one day, large monitors look out of reach. My favourite animals are the peregrine falcon, giant pacific octopus, California red-sided garter snake, and the golden greek tortoise. I've taken shots of snake venom. Also, I like mushrooms and snail shells.

Here's a quote that resonates with me. "Since I was a child, I’ve always loved a good story. I believed that stories helped us to ennoble ourselves to fix what was broken in us, and to help us become the people we dreamed of being. Lies that told a deeper truth. I always thought I could play some small part in that grand tradition" - thank you Westworld. Narratives of aural, visual, and written accounts have filled me with perspective. Ambition leads me to the possibility of documentary filmmaking, but I don't predict the future. In any case, as a lot of people, I love film and television, from B-movies, martial arts, dramas, horror, musicals, theatre, comedy and international, it's all great. I'm a genre nerd, so I can get tangled in talks on a variety of fandoms, but I'm happy to learn from bigger geeks.

Food. Great taste lifts spirits, and fabulous flavour soothes the soul. I often glean insights from asking people what they've eaten that day. I maintain a garden with my parents, and it brings us great pleasure to know that our thumbs are just green enough to give us home grown ingredients for a good portion of the year.

I love art galleries, a symphony orchestra, aquariums, special exhibits, concerts, nature and the natural world, and a good story in any format. I'm a fan of a couple of offbeat sports, aside from hockey, being sumo wrestling and arm wrestling. I'm a fan of Chiyonofuji, Asashoryu, Hakuho, and recently Waketakekage. Being a fellow Canadian, I'm a big fan of Devon Laratt, and enjoy his unusual yet practical training methods. Along those lines, I train frequently, and do some strict weight-training, but mostly focus on callisthenics with weighted variations. Accountability friends are welcome. Musicwise, I'm a lifelong NIN, Chris Cornell, QOTSA, Deftones, Tool, Muse, Korn, Justice, Daft Punk, Mos Def, Pharaoh Monch, and MF Doom fan. Like most, I listen to a lot of varied stuff, and I hope to see more concerts in the future. Toodle-loo kangaroos.