Ever since I can remember, I've been building worlds in my head. Some of the first ones took shape on my grandparents' linoleum floor in Liberty, Texas — laying out little cities with a Playskool block set, one piece at a time.
I never wanted to leave them in my head. In kindergarten I painted a scene from the Houston rodeo, and I can still feel how much I wanted to get it right.
Video games showed me entire worlds someone had designed on purpose, and I wanted in. Art class, shop class, and CAD class each handed me a new tool — and by high school I was building my own 3D characters and worlds.
In college that turned into graphics and illustration, and eventually a whole library of stickers for an iOS app — work that led to original symbols of mine being exhibited at the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt.
Lately the canvas keeps getting bigger. I sketched and built a party at my house to celebrate video games and being together — real lights, sound, and projection. I built Star Wars props for a friend's kid's party. I love taking something from a sketch all the way to a real thing people can stand inside.
That's the work I want to keep doing — the kind of immersive, crafted experiences an Imagineer makes. The best part isn't the build; it's the look on someone's face when it all comes together and they just get to enjoy it.