Entry point:
Saint John’s Hospital
7am
Lincoln’s birthday
Los Angeles
California
1969
My parents are Los Angeles natives. My dad, a vet, German-Euro descent through the Midwest. My mom, second generation Mexican, artist and beauty queen, via Sinaloa, Mexico. My older brother, artist, writer, musician.
My dad’s myriad of jobs and twists of fate moved us up and down the California coast. My mom’s large, lively family, kept us loved and entertained. My relationships, soul searching and jobs took me up and down the coast as well... Encino, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Los Gatos, Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Corona Del Mar, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach.
Houses, rents, new schools, couches, cars, lovin’, fightin’, friends and family.
I Graduated Berkeley in the winter of 1992 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Went straight back to Los Gatos to deliver pizza for the next 5 years for Downtown Los Gatos Round Table Pizza... "Please hold." Took a stab at teaching, driving a San Jose cab and worked in the Silicon Valley as a QA Engineer for a robotic golf caddie company... until the economy tanked in the dotcom bust just before 2000.
I survived my 20’s with the greatest of friends, playing in bands, doing art, skateboarding and getting almost, completely lost.
In 2000 I came down to Newport Beach to stay with my family for a few weeks, clear my head, figure out my next move. Just before I was about to head back up north, I was offered a job at J3 Productions, a graphic design house started by the wonderfully talented Jonathan Lo and Jason Johnson. It was there I began my career as a graphic design artist. I started with designing graphics and prints for Roxy/Quiksilver. That led to an opening as Art Director for Shane Beschen’s surf clothing company - Monument Clothing.
After Monument fell to unfortunate circumstances, I left the sports-apparel industry to work as a CNC machinist for Marine Reef International, machining custom parts for a revolutionary heart stent stage used in electron microscopes. After 2 years, circa 2009, the economy took another hit, let go again and headed back into the world of graphic design.
At that point I started my own skate/music clothing line, LORDCherry. To make ends meet I returned to what was to be a 3 month contract with J3 Productions… which turned out to be a 10 year graphic design onslaught. In that time, we were inundated with work from Mattel, Nickelodeon, Hasbro, Disney, Discovery and much more… An amazing and fortunate experience.
I was married for 19 years, now amicably divorced with a beautiful daughter. My days include painting, graphic design, playing guitar, writing and working at Trader Joe’s. Weaving through the economy... I’m a social hermit that puts family first.
Feel free to contact me anytime for creative endeavors.
Thank you for your time.
-Aaron