This is a post that was originally made on MailChimp but I’m moving over here to keep together with the rest of my posts.
Hi! I'm Tristan. I was born on the very edge of the Mason Dixon Line in southern Pennsylvania. Cow shit smells like home to me. I am the youngest of five children and I grew up in a very musical home. Both my parents were piano players; my mother, a classically trained player - and my father, a jazz pianist. Music was almost always present somewhere in the house and our parents made sure to expose us to a ton of different genres. We grew up dancing, singing and playing music together as a family.
Age three was a big year for me. I set up a chess board perfectly and my family thought I was a genius - I was not. I learned to dive. I had a tiny pet chicken who used to sit on my shoulder named Mr. Peep. I was living the good life. As I grew up I started to become obsessed with animals. I was that weird kid that made animal noises and ran around like a velociraptor. At some point I started drawing animals and in elementary school I first noticed it might be something I was pretty good at. It certainly helped to have a very cool art teacher who let us experiment and have fun with our art.
Most of, but not all of my giant family.
I grew up in a large tight-knit family. It has been a very important part of my life. Our parents made sure we were raised to be kind and only judge people on their actions which I've carried with me through my life. I'm also very fortunate and grateful to have a family cottage on a small lake in Northern Pennsylvania, which we've been visiting for over 100 years now. It's a place I can do one of my favorite things on this earth - swim. I feel the most at peace when I'm swimming. Because of this I've become fascinated with water and the worlds beneath the waves. I'm convinced it's because I'm a pretty spot on Pisces.
As I got older I became aware art was something I was good at and always brought me joy so I decided to pursue that in school. I started at a school in Upstate New York going for a basic Art and Design degree and a minor in Biological Illustration. During my second year there I had a discussion with a teacher that made me realize I was more suited to Illustration than Visual Art. I withdrew from that school soon after and the following year went to a school specifically for Illustration. After 3 years there I left to start my Freelance Art Career and here I am still working on it. I'm still growing, learning and adapting. I hope you enjoyed learning a little about me and look forward to more updates and thoughts in the future! Thank you for reading.
♥︎- Finch
