© 2006 Swanson
| "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace". Jimi Hendrix |
I was born in Southern California and grew up riding my bicycle to the beach and to
Disneyland. My father was a mechanical engineer and designed hardware for the
rockets used in the early spaceflights. I was raised in an era of "Good Vibrations"
where birds and tikis sang in a Polynesian inspired wonderland and man walked on
the moon. Anything was possible then, and anything is possible now.
I learned to draw at an early age, many of my initial works were of the 60's beach
culture; Woodies, thatched huts, tikis and surfer/hula girls. I drew things that were a
part of my everyday life. Even then my love for an enchanted Polynesian Shangri-la
was apparent.
When I was seven I met Walt Disney. It was 1964 in Tomorrowland. Walt took the
time to speak and shake hands with me. He spoke of hope and the future lighting an
optimistic flame in me that has continued to grow. One year later Walt was gone but
the impact he left will never be forgotten.
I developed further as an artist at the tail end of the psychedelic era, painting posters
and record covers. I also animated a number of short films, experimenting with
unusual hand drawn and computer assisted techniques.
Years later as Director of Computer Animation, I pioneered the use of computers in
feature animated film. Working on such movies as, Spielberg's An American Tale,
Spielberg and Lucas' "Land Before Time", Disney's "Mafia!", MGM's "All Dogs go to
Heaven" and Hanna Barbera's "The Pagemaster".
Today I live in Hawaii's beautiful North Shore and am fusing my lifelong love of art,
Polynesian fantasy and technology to create Swanson's Aloha Workshop.
I hope my art takes you to a place of peace, happiness and enchantment, a place
where anything is possible.
Aloha--Swanson
Disneyland. My father was a mechanical engineer and designed hardware for the
rockets used in the early spaceflights. I was raised in an era of "Good Vibrations"
where birds and tikis sang in a Polynesian inspired wonderland and man walked on
the moon. Anything was possible then, and anything is possible now.
I learned to draw at an early age, many of my initial works were of the 60's beach
culture; Woodies, thatched huts, tikis and surfer/hula girls. I drew things that were a
part of my everyday life. Even then my love for an enchanted Polynesian Shangri-la
was apparent.
When I was seven I met Walt Disney. It was 1964 in Tomorrowland. Walt took the
time to speak and shake hands with me. He spoke of hope and the future lighting an
optimistic flame in me that has continued to grow. One year later Walt was gone but
the impact he left will never be forgotten.
I developed further as an artist at the tail end of the psychedelic era, painting posters
and record covers. I also animated a number of short films, experimenting with
unusual hand drawn and computer assisted techniques.
Years later as Director of Computer Animation, I pioneered the use of computers in
feature animated film. Working on such movies as, Spielberg's An American Tale,
Spielberg and Lucas' "Land Before Time", Disney's "Mafia!", MGM's "All Dogs go to
Heaven" and Hanna Barbera's "The Pagemaster".
Today I live in Hawaii's beautiful North Shore and am fusing my lifelong love of art,
Polynesian fantasy and technology to create Swanson's Aloha Workshop.
I hope my art takes you to a place of peace, happiness and enchantment, a place
where anything is possible.
Aloha--Swanson
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