General Background

I did not expect to be a professional artist. I graduated from university with an honors degree in Anthropology (1976) and no art training. However, when I joined the workforce, there was not much work to be had -- certainly not in anything related to anthro. However, I'd always done a little this'n'that in art, and people kept asking me to do more. Art was work I liked, so I stuck with it. Eventually I took some training to fill in some of the gaps left by being mostly self-taught.

Career: Did you choose your work or did it choose you?

I knew Ken St. Andre from science fiction fandom, and he introduced a group of us to roleplaying games when he designed Tunnels & Trolls, published by the game company Flying Buffalo Inc. Eventually I worked for Flying Buffalo as staff artist, writer, game developer, typesetter, productions director, and as game and magazine editor. It's how I learned the ins and outs of the game industry (and there's always been a lot of both!).

Since starting out around 1978, I have freelanced art, editing, writing, and scenario design to some 100 different game and publishing companies, notably Wizards of the Coast, Bantam Books, TSR, AEG, Mage Knight, FASA, ICE, GDW, Interplay, EA, DAW, and more than I've even kept track of. In 1996 I was inducted into the Academy of Gaming Arts and Design's Hall of Fame.

Outside the publishing industry, I've done such work that comes my way and interests me. The Arizona Science Center and Phoenix Public Library had me do some small pieces for their Satellite Science program. I enjoy creating Cardigan and other dog art. Southwestern themes appeal because I'm a desert rat (raised and resident in Arizona) and those images tie back nicely to my anthropology background. Celtic designs attracted me decades(!) before they became trendy.

Top

Do you take private commissions?

On occasion, depending on my available time (my regular professional committments come first). However, I have done logos for kennels, mosaics, tiles, fantasy commissions, and more. Unless we have worked together before, I generally ask for half the negotiated price up front, final upon delivery. To inquire further, please feel free to write me at commissions@oakheart.com.

How can I find out about news and upcoming appearances?

Check out the News page here. I'll try to keep that reasonably current.

What are your hobbies, interests, family, etc?

It should be apparent from other pages on this site that I'm very fond of my dogs, Saint and Poca. To me, dogs are family, but pets can go beyond that -- anything from a hobby to a profession. For me it's a bit of both although I'm not a "player" (I don't breed or show). Doing dog-related art has come relatively recently, and I've focused on Cardigans. Cardis are a numerically small breed, especially compared to the better-known, similar-but-unrelated, tailless Pembroke Welsh Corgis. Pems are fine, but too much Cardi art has been Pem-with-a-tail, so I saw a niche where I might fit. And just as with gaming, it's something I have fun doing.

I'm not big into team sports, but I really enjoy attending games with the Phoenix Mercury (women's professional basketball). I walk and sometimes bike for exercise, and swim in season. I took up yoga a few years ago for stress reduction, kept at it regularly for quite awhile but have slipped out of practice lately. Less athletically, I read... a lot.

Family? My mother passed away in 2000, my father many years before that. I have no children except the furry four-footed kind. I am profoundly grateful for the "tribe" of friends I'm lucky to have.

Top

What can you say about the card game art you did for Magic: the Gathering, for the Tolkien Middle Earth card game, for Legend of the Five Rings, and...

I've done something around 150 cards for maybe a dozen different collectible card games like M:tG, METW, L5R, and others. I I recently updated my cardlist so you can find a nearly-complete version posted here.

Will you sign cards by mail?

Okay, I finally dug out from under the horrific backlog of cards-to-be-signed, so I'm lifting the self-imposed moratorium. I'm willing to sign cards again and hope I'll stay on top of them hereafter. Still, a few caveats: (1) Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. If you're overseas, please include the necessary International Reply Coupons. If I don't have return postage, I consider the cards a gift and you won't get them back. (2) Please be patient with me. I'll return the cards as soon as I can, but it still could take awhile. (3) Please keep the number of cards to a reasonable quantity.

Top

Mission Statement

Let me begin by saying I consider mission statements rather self-indulgent and presumptious. That being said, I percieve a certain societal hunger to learn why an artist pursues his or her path, and how she came to be on it in the first place.

Maybe it's because we all scribbled as kids. Yet many adults say they can't draw stick figures. Is there something that makes a working artist different? Self-help books and business schools tout the importance of Creativity, as if it were something lost that must be relocated. Does a working artist call upon Creativity at will, like a biddable dog?

I don't have the answers. (I do have opinions!) Here I offer thoughts on the internal processes of why and how I do what I do. I make no claims of unique pronoucements or startling new philosophies, but the views are my own. Maybe that is why I think artist's mission statements tend toward the self-indulgent!

I seek to make art, illustration, and design as my living and as my life.

I try to make visible those images only I can see, visions of people, places, and lives that might have no reality except that I opened the curtain to where they waited. I hope others find these glimpses of this "otherwhere" engaging, interesting, and visually communicative.

It is my intention to always produce works that include some integral part of me.

Put another way: I put myself into all my work, commissioned or personal. I don't turn out art I care nothing about. I try not to rush work beyond my ability to do an excellent job. When I put my name on something, it may hang around for some time... if it isn't as good as I was able to do, then I can never escape it. By doing my best, I try to make sure I never want to!

I hope to engage the emotions and imagination of the viewer.

In my view, art is communication between artist and viewer. My illustrations are in realistic styles. My 3d work often evokes an historic or mythic theme. The results link eye and mind of both artist and viewer to "otherwheres" of history or imagination.

Top