Artist's Biography
Ham works out of studios in Indiana and Utah. A multi-talented artist, he expresses his creativity in a variety of media.
While illustrating for books and magazines he began working for ad agencies and moved to Chicago. Companies such as Keebler, Becks Beer, Disney, Marlboro, Cheetos, Bush Beer, Budweiser, Haines, Kellogg’s, and McDonalds have used his work. His children’s book illustrations include Black Beauty, Frankenstein, Anne of Green Gables, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.
“I do my best to translate emotion and feelings into color and communicate my individual interpretation of each subject,” he explained. ”My goal is to capture spontaneity. As an artist, I am learning to express myself in an honest and straightforward manner.”
Ham’s father is an illustrator; and, as a child, he would stand on a chair to watch him work with oils, acrylics, fixatives, markers, and pencils. He believes this gave him a solid base in the fundamentals of drawing and painting. He paints what he loves – people, animals, and sometimes landscapes.
In 2003, he had his first one-man show at the Chicago Old Town School of Folk Music, followed by an exhibit at the South Suburban College in South Holland, Ill. In 2004, he won first place at the Heartland Art Gallery juried show in Plymouth and had a one-man show at the Heartland Gallery. In 2005, his work was accepted at a juried show at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City, and he was featured in the Lubeznik Center “Spirit of Animals” 2006 show.