My patient propensity
to spend enjoyable and long
hours on art projects in grade
school led my parents to send me
to specialized art classes and
eventually hire an adult artist to
tutor me at the age of eleven. My
foundational training was primarily
in pencil, charcoal, pastels
and acrylic.
Eventually, I would go on to
earn dual degrees from Arizona
State University: a Bachelor of
Fine Art in Painting, and a
Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art with
an emphasis in Sculpture. At the
university, I branched out into
three-dimensional art working
primarily in stone, metals (bronze,
aluminum, steel, copper), concrete,
wax, clay and plaster. But always,
my true passion remained
PAINTING. And it was in college
that I absolutely fell in love with
painting in OIL.
Phoenix, Arizona. I worked there for seven years (1996-2003) apprenticing, reproducing, and
ultimately designing under the incorporated artist names of John Douglas (abstracts, still-lifes,
architectural, landscapes, portraits), Liz Jardine (primarily still-lifes), Augustine (still-lifes, portraiture),
Dennis Carney (primarily still-lifes), and Susan Hartenhoff (equine and other animal portraiture).
Under these names I have produced millions of dollars of artwork that has been shown in galleries
and sold all over the world. As an art wholesaler, PAG sold primarily to interior designers, galleries
and poster companies. Ethan Allen is one example of the many companies that I supplied with
artwork through PAG for years. PAG sold our images to poster producing companies in Canada and
England which in turn sold posters and prints to Z gallery, Bombay Company, Linens ‘n Things, Bed
Bath and Beyond, Target and Joanne’s, just to name a few.
I am grateful for my years at PAG where I further honed my skills and greatly broadened my artistic
influence as I worked alongside hundreds of incredibly gifted artists. As a result, I am proficient in still-
life, landscape, portraiture, animals and abstract. My passions, however, lie primarily in more
representational work. After seven years at PAG, I had accomplished the goal I was pursuing outside
my career at Phoenix Art Group, which was to earn my Master’s of Art in Theology at Phoenix
Seminary.
As soon as that was complete, in May of 2003, I retired from PAG and began to establish Paintings
by Mecca. Since then I have been delighting in full time work split between taking private
commissions and exploring my unique style as an artist.