Messiah was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1955. By the age of eight he demonstrated a natural proficiency for drawing and painting. His mother, an artist in her own right, encouraged him to develop this innate talent. When Messiah turned eighteen, he received a Merit Scholarship to attend the Columbus College of Art & Design to study painting and fashion design. He graduated, with honors, in 1977 with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts.
After graduation, Messiah moved to New York City to embark on his career as a fashion designer and continued on this path through 1998. But the fashion world was never satisfying to Messiah and his work left him with unexplainable feeling of emptiness. It was only at the time of his mother's death in 1991 that Messiah's spiritual journey began. While continuing in the fashion world his spiritual journey intensified and in 1995 he heard a voice that was as much in him as outside of him. The voice was telling him to paint his spiritual vision. Messiah had always painted but never had a clear direction. Now this voice was giving him that direction and yet he still struggled for three more years before finally committing himself and picked up his paintbrush and began to paint his vision.
Messiah was a winner of the Manhattan Arts International "Healing Power of Art" competition/exhibition. It was juried by E. Jay Weiss, a New York based artist and former curator of the Cabrini Hospice Collection. He is also a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Messiah was also a winner of the Upstream People Gallery Judeo-Christian Juried Online International Art Exhibition. He also has many private collectors including: Ellin Lavar, award winning hair designer to celebrities; Dr. Adele L. Cavalli, M.D.; and Dr. Grace H. Pak, M.D., of Grace Dermatology.
Messiah believes that the source of his inspiration for his paintings is from a higher being and that is why Messiah has renamed himself Messiah. He has consciously embarked on this spiritual path to reflect this newfound sense of self that is emerging within him. To reflect this divine transformation that has graced his life, the signature on his work will be Messiah. This is his way of giving thanks to the divine source, a powerful force and perfect order that controls everything good and wonderful in our world. When you recognize it, embrace it and surrender to it there is nothing else to say but thank you. Messiah's work is intended to inspire, to illuminate and to lift the human spirit.
