About

I express and convey ideas in creative ways. Whether design, writing, producing music, or writing complex code in multiple languages, it's all a form of expression. I enjoy translating great ideas and presenting them as immersive, interactive showcase-expressions that challenge the status quo.

01.29.2020

I'm updating the about page.
Took off a couple things temporarily.

Ansi, Ascii, Midi

I co-founded a Winnipeg-based ansi art group by the mid-90s. We ended up reaching international distribution by 1996. We were collaborating with ansi + ascii artists, programmers, and digital musicians from different parts of the world to make e-magazines.

This was all done on dial-up bulletin board systems before most people had been on, or even heard of the internet.

For music I did midi adlib tracks in the DOS days using Radlib and my old 386 SX/20 computer. These days I use a midi keyboard controller with FL Studio and other audio tools. I also have a ton of vinyls.

Painting with pixels

I started raster speed-painting around 1999 when I bought my Wacom tablet. I really liked the messy mockup/concept look that illustrators get from using prisma-color markers.

Evolving standards

Digital illustration is now more of an occasional thing for me. Most of my work is done in vector format, but it’s nice to take a break from all the technical design to do some painting now and then.

Metropolis Shard

Metropolis was my Ultima Online server. I ran it from 2003-2007.

It was a free to play remake of the harsh and unforgiving 1999 era of Ultima Online. It was an escape back to the period of house looting, murders, thieves, pirates, and worse! The server had thousands of craftable items that each had combat/gameplay, economy, and more to factor and plan around. In 2005, the server had over 50,000 active accounts and had to be capped at a maximum of 1,200 live players at a time in its peak days.

I put my heart and soul into Metropolis for many years, along with other game+quest masters, developers, counselors, and community members. Metropolis was one of the most fun and interesting things I had ever done and taken part of. It was amazing to see everyone working together for the sake of growing and sustaining the community.

Metropolis was also featured at one point on MMORPG.com and consistently ranked as one of the top Ultima Online servers in the world.

User Experience

There's something special and gratifying about about finding and harnessing the spirit of a brand.

Projects that make a difference.

"When I look into the eyes of an animal I do not see an animal. I see a living being. I see a friend. I feel a soul." -A.D. Williams

Virtual Community Building.

"There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about." –Margaret J. Wheatley

Crush a Market

The easier it is to use, the better. Why not make it fun to use? I try to make every project so they are fun or engaging to use.

Cloud Stuff

I began server hosting in 2003. Most of my server experience came from hosting game servers for over a decade and in 2013 I started privately hosting all the websites I worked on.

Historic Stuff

1993-1999

Creation of Local Art Group
iMPACT Ansi Group
Freelance Ansi/Ascii Artist
Local Dial-Up Bulletin Boards (BBSes)
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Featured Illustration: "Lone Wolf"
Primary Languages
QB, VB, ASP, HTML+CSS, Javascript

2000-2009

Local Freelance Agent
Graphic, Web, Print
Started Web Hosting
Rush Over Inc.
Ran a Popular Game Server
Metropolis Shard - Ultima Online
Primary Languages
PHP, SQL, C#, jQuery

2010-2016

First Magazine Print Published
Epic Information Solutions
First WordPress Plugin created
First App created
National Web Design Medal
Modern Earth Web Design
Primary Languages
PHP, SQL, C#, jQuery

2017-Present

Global Freelance Agent
Small to Enterprise Projects
New Datacenter & Servers
Enterprise Hosting Capabilities
Primary Languages
PHP, SQL, jQuery
More updates coming...