Resume: A partial and good-faith attempt to list everything I've done.

Sounds silly, but I've had an eclectic life when it comes to listing a nice, orderly resume. Throw in self-employment with temporary and seasonal jobs, add a dash of periodic full-time jobs of all varieties, and I find the task of creating a typical resume more than just a task: it's a near impossibility.  I've therefore attempted to list things chronologically but in category. I've included a category for travel because, and call me crazy, I consider it to be yet another aspect of "educating" myself and influencing my art. It's a shame when a resume only lists jobs and references because that tells only so much of who a person is and what they have done and can do. What should also be included is travel experience, personal betterment, community involvement, and furthered education.

 

Education

1993-1997, MSU-M | B.F.A. degree from Minnesota State University-Moorhead, drawing concentration; Art History minor
1993-1996, LRSC | Devils Lake, North Dakota; basic class requirements during the summer months.
1992-1993, NCU | One year of classes at North Central University in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

Experience

1998-Present | Writer and artist for Lone Prairie Art Works, the home-based company I founded specializing the visual arts and writing.
1999-Present | Artist and graphic designer in full-time and training positions at Creative Impressions, a personalization and design business in Devils Lake, North Dakota. Created logos, T-shirt designs, worked with CAD cutters for vinyl signs, prepared designs for production embroidery, created designs for personalized items, worked with digital photo retouching, etc. Also worked at training in new artists for Creative Impressions on the sublimation printer, CADcutter, computer and design systems, creating quick tutorials and more. (Creative Impressions)
2003-2005 | Writer and photographer for the Cavalier County Republican, a newspaper based in Langdon, North Dakota. Did interviews, covered local stories, and shot digital photos and created informative graphics for my own stories. Was told simultaneously by the public that I was a great and inaccurate writer, depending on how the latest story depicted them.
2005, May | Writing instructor for weeklong creative writing workshop at Munich Public School, grades K-6 and 10. Students took part in multiple writing exercises designed to get them thinking creatively and outside of their usual realm of thinking. All writing was collected and edited into a yet-unpublished collection.
2000-2003 | Worked seasonal three- and six-month arrangements at the Devils Lake Post Office, unloading trucks, sorting mail, getting mail sent out on the routes, and working the city mail; worked under severe time constraints, never went postal.
1998-2005 | Art instructor for numerous after-school or evening art classes to students of all ages, kindergarten through adult. Some topics covered included basic drawing, color theory, intro to acrylics, pen and ink drawing, collage, bookmaking, mixed media, etc. Classes were arranged through local art councils in the surrounding counties.
1998-1999 | Full-time K-12 art instructor in the Langdon Public School system. Teachers have my respect. Forever.
1997 | Visiting artist in area schools, including elementary schools in Devils Lake, middle school students at Minnewauken, and Leeds School. Classes included art history lessons tied into the varied art projects.
Freelance Writing | Interview, reporting and journalism experience; essays, commercial and topic-specific writing also.

 

Exhibitions and Public Readings

2005, April | University of North Dakota Writers' Conference; took part in public readings, reading an original piece of short fiction to conference attendees.
2004, Summer | Exhibited solo show in Langdon, North Dakota, entitled Stories featuring denatured books and an interactive journal in which visitors were encouraged to jot down their own thoughts (Stories)
2000-2003 | One of the initial start-up artists at the Heritage Arts Gallery and Gifts in Michigan, North Dakota, a co-op gallery and gift store founded by Dave and Amy Paukert. (Heritage Arts Gallery and Gifts)
2002, Spring | Featured artist at the Heritage Arts Gallery in Michigan, North Dakota. (Heritage Arts Gallery)
1998, Jan. 15-Feb. 12 | Art Academy of Cincinnati show Booked: Contemporary Artist Books juried art exhibition at the Chidlaw Gallery. Book entered was a three dimensional "pop-up" book featuring a horse in a pasture complete with a red gate, layers of trees, and an unusual barn. Juror: Charles Desmarais, Director Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
1997, Winter | One of two artists featured in an exhibition in the Cando Audi gallery, through the Cando Arts Council. The other artist had deer pictures and his side of the gallery was full of people. You can't compete with deer, here in North Dakota.
1997, Spring | B.F.A. show, a graduation requirement, at the Roland Dille Center for the Arts at Moorhead State University, featuring handmade books and sketchbooks illustrated with scenes from the farm along with written thoughts about rural life. Visitors to the show were given a comfortable chair to sit down in to read the books. There were framed works depicting similar subject matter surrounding the chair on the gallery walls.

 

Expertise

Fine Art | Unique and highly original art in multiple mediums and proprietary techniques.
Design | Eye-catching and unusual logos, book jackets and covers, CD booklets, postcards, brochures and letterheads, wedding and graduation announcements, T-shirts, posters, class instruction materials and workbooks, basic web site design and more. Find out more about Lone Prairie design.
Commissioned Art | Portraits, custom fine art for office buildings and homes and more. 
Commercial Art | Signs, billboards and murals.
Photography | Digital photography of still life, scenes, people, special events, illustrations, digital photo retouching; images provided to you on a CD.
Creative Writing | Fiction, poetry and other forms of creative writing; creative writing workshops for students of all ages.
Freelance Writing | Interview, reporting and journalism experience; also includes essays, commercial and topic-specific writing.
Idea Generation | Specializing in thinking out of the box, generating multiple ideas for you or your business, particularly if you are seeking unusual and unique methods not tried before.

 

Engaging the Community

2002-Present | Music director and pianist at the Cando A/G church in Cando, North Dakota.
2005, June | With help from a friend, collected, edited, designed and published a North Dakota anthology with the idea of giving North Dakota writers a chance to be published, exposing their work to a larger audience. (Winter: A Season of Writing on the Prairie)
2005, April | Designed, funded and managed a web site for North Dakota artists with the idea of giving North Dakota artists an online home and way to connect. (www.ndartists.com)
2001-2006 | Judged the visual arts exhibits for the North Dakota A/G Fine Arts Festival. Exhibits included graphic design, fine art, and photography.
1999-2000 | Painted two large wall murals for the Cando Youth Center, depicting a variety of scenes from jungle to ocean to cityscape to space, to help liven the interior of the youth center. The youth center has since closed and I do not know what will come of the murals.
1998-2005 | Part of a local violin quintet that entertains at various community functions.
2004 | Created a full-color history book, with help from my mother and community members, as well as a web site, for the Hampden Centennial, utilizing photos, historical data, graphics, art and layout techniques. (www.hampdennd.com)
2000-2004 | Judged the North Dakota Student Art Show entries for Ramsey and Towner counties.

 

Expeditions

2004-2008, Nicaragua | As part of a Nicaragua Resource Network group, helped build houses, take people to the doctor, and worked with the community and children for a week. (www.northdakotanrn.com)
2006, Germany | Spent a weekend in Germany for a friend's wedding and ate way to much chocolate and declicious German cake.
2004, Washington | Traveled across country by train and met up with a former German exchange student in Seattle, spending four weeks traveling around the state, visiting art museums, beaches, cafes and National Parks.
2003, Portland, OR | Spent a week in Vancouver and Portland, exploring the city and finding myself in the heaven otherwise known as Powell's Book Store, a book store that requires a map.
2002, Australia | Stayed in Australia for three months, experiencing Australian life in the New South Wales/Victoria region of Albury/Wodonga.
2001, Denver | Traveled around the country on the train, eventually arriving in Denver to spend a few weeks taking in art museums, science museums, sports events and plays. This trip is particularly poignant, having occurred during the September 11th attacks, giving me a chance to be caught up in the travel mess that ensued when airplane and bus travelers found themselves flocking to the train system.
2000, Highway 281 | With two friends, packed up a car and took part in a four week "Great American Road Trip" from the Canadian border to the Mexican border via Highway 281.  On the way back took in some Gulf Coast towns; San Antonio, TX; Carlsbad, NM; Roswell, NM; Sante Fe, NM; Denver, CO; Estes Park, CO; Medora, ND. Shot up rolls of black and white photography, had a few squabbles, a run-in with a scorpion, a bizarre experience at the Alien museum, and once back home created a web site with all the images and details, including sketches from my journal.
1999, Germany | Spent four weeks in Germany, two with a former exchange student in the Hamburg/Kiel region, with a few days stay at a hostel in Berlin so that we could visit many art museums and restaurants; and two weeks with another former exchange student in the southern region, tooling around the country visiting castles (Wartburg, Waldeck), the Erdsee, Kassel, and more. Put my journal with its text and drawings, along with photos from the trip, up on a website for a while. Germany has great chocoloate.
1992, Germany | Spent three weeks in eastern Germany with a missions group shortly after the wall came down. We performed skits and singing in public, had a few beer bottles thrown at us, and took part in church services in the evening, helping the Danish missionaries that were working in the small town of Schneeberg. We also had a few days tour of Prague and surrounding areas.