I was born in 1986, in Istanbul, Turkey. As a little boy, I had the poorest appetite, and my grandparents devoted themselves to not only making sure that I ate, but ate a lot. In order to do that they had to be creative.
Some of my earliest influences were the fantastic pastoral stories made up by my grandfather. My grandparents had no formal education, but my grandfather had a vivid imagination and a natural inclination for storytelling.
Spending long summers with them in their village on top of the Black Sea mountains presented me with an opportunity to develop a kindred relationship with nature and folklore, which continues to feed my imagination to this day.
I am very fortunate to live and work in San Diego with my beautiful wife and our precious son.