Many years ago, more than I like to think about, I went forth, armed with a degree in fine art, to set the art world on fire with my paintings. It quickly became apparent that this was not to be. I was the one who got burned and quickly found out what the term 'starving artist' really meant. I soon looked for other ways to survive and realized I had always loved cartooning. The end of my painting career became the start of my cartooning career and I haven't looked back. It started over 35 years ago with the creation of a little chef character for a cooking school.

 

With the help of a couple of partners, we marketed the little chef on a variety of licensed products and eventually spun it into a syndicated cartoon strip, Le Grand Chef Pierre. Pierre ran in about 100 newspapers internationally. The strip ran for about two and a half years until Pierre went to that great greasy spoon diner in the sky. Although the strip didn't last that long, it gave me a lot of insight into the realities of the cartoon business.

 

Over the years following Chef Pierre, I have created greeting cards, been a graphic designer, written and illustrated children's books, published several books of cartoons and taught thousands of adults and children the art of cartooning. In addition, I've given many talks on my career as a cartoonist. So far, it's been an interesting ride.

 

For over twenty-five of those years, I have been the editorial cartoonist for the Guelph Tribune, a bi-weekly newspaper in Guelph, Ontario.

 

For my work with the Tribune, I was honoured to be voted 2011 Cartoonist of the Year by the Ontario Community Newspaper Association.

 

Besides my work as an editorial cartoonist, I keep busy  creating monthly gags for several trade publications. I also create cartoons for many corporate and government clients. I have created several cartoon calendars and presentation materials for the Government of Canada.

 

After living in Guelph for 30 years and raising a terrific son, my wife and I have moved to the pretty little town of Meaford, Ontario on the shores of Georgian Bay. From here I hope to create many more laughs for many more clients. Maybe I'll even find a little time to start painting again.