The Art Of...

Back when I was a child, I enjoyed nothing more than playing with my toys and losing hours of daylight as I recreated episodes of shows like Teenage mutant ninja turtles, Exo Squad, Gargoyles, Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, power rangers... I mean, the list goes on! But what I loved the most was being able to get lost in the immense worlds and crossover storylines that I would create with my toys that I sometimes modified to fit whatever storyline I was playing out for the day or even week!

Growing up in LA during the late '80s and early 90's sure wasn't your cake walk down the street. Experiencing first hands things like the LA riots and seeing police almost daily, one is almost forced to grow up and see the world a bit differently. Regardless of this, my parents worked hard to provide a great environment and give us what we needed and even wanted, which kept me off the path that could have resulted in me not being here today.

Coming from a Latino background, my father always emphasized the importance of a job and doing it right, so as soon as I was able to, I got one. Within a couple months after being hired, I became the shift manager of my neighborhood Pizza Hut, and let's just say that all of a sudden, I became the best friend. Right out of high school, I moved cross country, became father to boy/girl twins, and for the next 15+, I continued the same pattern of doing my job right and achieving the position of manager for whatever restaurant I worked for.

Fast forward to today, where they are now older and semi-independent (12); they have a baby sister, and I've recently graduated from Otis College of Art and Design, where I majored in Toy Design. Yes, you heard that right, a Bachelor's Degree in Toy Design. I initially enrolled into El Camino college to become a Respiratory therapist and decided to take a sculpture class since I couldn't register for one of the many science classes I needed. According to the professor, I was better than your average bear, and I should consider taking it up. This was actually the class where I met Kelly, learned about Otis and their Toy design program, and the rest is history.