Paul grew up on the south shore of Long Island, NY, among the sand dunes of Jones Beach and the
strip malls of Sunrise Highway, filling sketchbooks with cartoons and J.Crew models holding guns.
After graduating Syracuse University in 2005, Paul set out to explore the many fields that crisscrossed design and art. Quickly, he became aware that the world outside of school was not nearly as compartmentalized. Professions and disciplines bled into one another, and in order to survive you had to be adaptable. Artists were also skilled tradespeople, designers had business acumen, and carpenters dabbled in science. These many-talented, curious people inspired him to learn more. They were proof that trying something new, humbling yourself in challenging situations, was what made life interesting. It also made them interesting, to talk to and to learn from.
After a brief stint as a designer in San Francisco and New York City, Paul returned to upstate New York to help build a home on a design/build project by architect Brendan Rose. He learned the basics of architecture, construction trades, material sourcing and many other facets of building and craftsmanship. This served as an ideal jumping off point for further exploration.
And jump he did, across the country to Portland, Oregon in 2007. Immediately, he felt at home. The stereotype was true, everyone he met had three lives and a day job. Throughout his eleven years living there, he worked as a carpenter, a welder/fabricator, and a sign painter. And those were just the big ones, nevermind the gig work and the side hustles.
Outside of his job, he continually developed his art and design discipline. This began with music, sculpture and design objects, but later expanded to painting, writing and illustration. Unsurprisingly, the trade or profession he was currently employed in most influenced the direction of his art practice. But soon, things changed. The city was pushing out the many-talented, curious people he related to so much. This can be blamed on a myriad of factors, but generally, the city was a victim of its own success, and the cost of living kept rising.
So, in 2018 with the help of a friend, he eschewed the city life for the high desert in Eastern Oregon, and got a job wildland firefighting and running a chainsaw in the national forest. The cultural whiplash was extreme, but not undesirable. Seasonal work afforded months of downtime, a luxury he could never afford in his most vagrant days in Portland.
What did he do with all that time? He returned to his first love: drawing, and began filling sketchbooks again. At some point, one of them became the beginning of Yacht Club Swing (named after a song by Fats Waller).
Currently, he will often switch to the computer to escape the dust and noise of the shop, then inevitably return to the shop to escape the void and existential dread of digital work.
After graduating Syracuse University in 2005, Paul set out to explore the many fields that crisscrossed design and art. Quickly, he became aware that the world outside of school was not nearly as compartmentalized. Professions and disciplines bled into one another, and in order to survive you had to be adaptable. Artists were also skilled tradespeople, designers had business acumen, and carpenters dabbled in science. These many-talented, curious people inspired him to learn more. They were proof that trying something new, humbling yourself in challenging situations, was what made life interesting. It also made them interesting, to talk to and to learn from.
After a brief stint as a designer in San Francisco and New York City, Paul returned to upstate New York to help build a home on a design/build project by architect Brendan Rose. He learned the basics of architecture, construction trades, material sourcing and many other facets of building and craftsmanship. This served as an ideal jumping off point for further exploration.
And jump he did, across the country to Portland, Oregon in 2007. Immediately, he felt at home. The stereotype was true, everyone he met had three lives and a day job. Throughout his eleven years living there, he worked as a carpenter, a welder/fabricator, and a sign painter. And those were just the big ones, nevermind the gig work and the side hustles.
Outside of his job, he continually developed his art and design discipline. This began with music, sculpture and design objects, but later expanded to painting, writing and illustration. Unsurprisingly, the trade or profession he was currently employed in most influenced the direction of his art practice. But soon, things changed. The city was pushing out the many-talented, curious people he related to so much. This can be blamed on a myriad of factors, but generally, the city was a victim of its own success, and the cost of living kept rising.
So, in 2018 with the help of a friend, he eschewed the city life for the high desert in Eastern Oregon, and got a job wildland firefighting and running a chainsaw in the national forest. The cultural whiplash was extreme, but not undesirable. Seasonal work afforded months of downtime, a luxury he could never afford in his most vagrant days in Portland.
What did he do with all that time? He returned to his first love: drawing, and began filling sketchbooks again. At some point, one of them became the beginning of Yacht Club Swing (named after a song by Fats Waller).
Currently, he will often switch to the computer to escape the dust and noise of the shop, then inevitably return to the shop to escape the void and existential dread of digital work.