I was born in Troy, New York on December 17, 1961. My family moved to the small town of Gansevoort, New York when I was three. I have been deaf since birth; making artwork has been a creative outlet for me for as long as I can remember. I attended The New York State School for the Deaf in Rome, New York, where I continued developing my art interest and skills. After my graduation from high school in 1979, I went to college at National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology, studying applied art, then medical lab technology. After three years, I lost interest and left college to start a property business with a partner. In 1985 I sold my first business to start a picture framing and art shop at Village Gate Square near downtown Rochester. It only took a few months before I had to move my business into my apartment, taking odd jobs to supplement my income.

I married Corrine Ritchie in 1988, and moved my business back to Village Gate Square to try again with the help of a partner. After eighteen months of effort at this second art shop, I realized that I was not happy as a picture framer- I wanted to paint. I also had a growing family, and I was working 75 hours a week to support them. Although I was seriously thinking about getting back into my art, I had no time to paint.

In 1994 I did my first drawing in years. It started out as a "doodle" drawing with my two older sons, and ended up as a pastel. The boys first reaction was a surprised "What is it!?". I explained that the idea came from my head and it was a style called "surrealism". I knew that I wanted to paint again, but it took another four years until I could find the time- around my job as a maintainance supervisor and my family responsibilities - to paint.

In 1998 I managed to paint four paintings. 1999 was a better year - I painted seven more paintings, and half of those were commissioned works. I prefer to paint for enjoyment rather than for commissioned "orders", and for the last two and one-half years I have developed new ideas for my surreal paintings. Since December, 2000, my art has been my full-time occupation.

Ever since I have painted many different paintings, which totaled about 700 paintings. You can see the painting that I have done in our Painting Archive on this website or click here to go to the Painting Archive. If you have any questions or comments relating to artwork please email me at art@randydunham.com.