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A SMALL BOY FROM OHIO... I was born in 1977 to two fantastic parents. My Grandmother was a gifted artist...though she never sought the spotlight by taking her talents to the public. From birth, I was inspired by her creativity. To prepare the nursery for my arrival, she painted a really cute mural of Winnie the Pooh on the wall. That mural would remain on that wall despite the room being repainted several times throughout my life. When the room became my sister's room, the walls were repainted in a beige color...but special care was taken to make sure all the elements of the mural were left in-tact. When we moved out of that house for a larger one, I remember the sadness I felt...knowing that the home's new owners would soon paint over this beautiful work of art. My own creativity started to show at an early age. My doodles frequently blessed our family's refrigerator and I won several ribbons at school art fairs. One or two of my drawings were sent to Highlights Magazine for inclusion in one of their showcases along with a poem I had written about fishing with my Father. One of my greatest works in Elementary School was a three-panel piece depicting numerous scenes from the animated feature film "Yellow Submarine" starring the Beatles. I'm sure that is still floating around somewhere in my Mother's closet...I should have her go look for it. :) THE DISNEY DAYS OF SUMMER... Jump forward quite a few years to 1995. I had graduated from High School and was already attending Lakeland Community College. It was high time I found a real job...so I applied for work at Disney Store #482 at the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor, Ohio. Sure enough, I was hired. A year later, our store Newsletter, "The Scoop", featured an article about how Walt Disney World was closing its "Enchanted Tiki Room" attraction in favor of an updated show featuring new characters. For some reason, I felt that I needed to be there...to be the final host of this attraction. Mind you, until that time, I had no interest in Polynesian Pop Culture or Tiki stuff...so I would say that this sudden urge to be a part of this attraction was unexpected. Looking back and where that feeling has taken me, I would definitely say it was like destiny was calling me. I moved to Florida in 1997 and, as luck would have it, ended up in a role at the "Tropical Serenade", which was Walt Disney World's name for the Enchanted Tiki Room attraction. I found that there weren't many people interested in working there, and only a handful of the Cast Members I worked with were still enthusiastic about Jose and his fine feathered friends. It was a perfect opportunity for me to make a name for myself. One day, one of my Leaders approached me to ask why I loved the Tiki Room so much. I told her that I really wasn't sure...but that it was full of Disney magic and that appealed to me. She then said "You love this show so much, i'm gonna have to start calling you TIKI TACKETT!" From that day forward, that is how I was known...as Tiki Tackett, JasonTikiTackett (all run together super fast), or just plain Tiki. I would go on to host the final performance of the "Tropical Serenade" at Walt Disney World as well as host the "Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management" show which replaced it. I would serve as the Show Quality Liaison for the attraction, assuring that everything was working and the show looked its absolute best. I would remain there until 1999, when I transferred into Guest Relations at the Magic Kingdom.   MY BIG BREAK... In 2004, I was approached by members of an upcoming online game called "Virtual Magic KIngdom" while working as the Secretary for Guest Relations at the Magic Kingdom. One of the team members had noticed some simple artwork I had created to decorate my office. These simple pieces of art were depictions of Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Resort, and Town Square at the Magic Kingdom as they appeared in an original piece by Paul Hartley. The Hartley piece was featured as artwork in the rooms at the original Walt Disney World Resort Guest Rooms on opening day. I was told that my style was unique and that they would like to see what I might be able to do in the way of small graphics to be used in the game when it went live. At first, I thought they were kidding...I mean, here I am...no formal schooling in artwork, using an out-of-date version of Adobe PhotoShop to create primative looking artwork to fill space on an empty wall for the sake of filling the space and they want me to do something similar for a DISNEY product that will reach thousands of people? This had to be a joke, right? Sure enough, they were serious and I received my first assignment a few weeks later. By the time the game was retired in 2007, I had created over 150 unique "virtual pins" for the game as well as design the Christmas overlay for virtual Main Street and create the final artwork for the "Yeti Chair" virtual furniture piece. Some of the virtual pin designs would later be translated into real-world pins by Walt Disney Imagineering and would be sold in limited quantities at their Glendale campus. The team at Virtual Magic Kingdom would also be the individuals who would put me in front of the public's eyes for the first time. My avatar in the game, "TikiT" ended up becoming well known and I was given a rare opportunity to host my own (albeit virtual) gallery exhibit. This is rare because when you work for Disney, it's understood that "the name on the door at the end of the day is Disney" and not yours. There are so many more creative individuals working for this Company that deserve name recognition from the public...but once again...here I was...being applauded for something I had done artistically. The feeling of support I received from that team and the public was humbling.   THE START OF SOMETHING BIG... After Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom ceased operations, I started to work on bettering myself by creating "Tiki Tackett World" at my site. There, I could continue my artistic growth by using the skills I learned while working with Virtual Magic Kingdom and develop new skills that would help me continue to move forward. At Walt Disney World, I continued to be a graphics contributor for many internal projects and used the opportunities presented to me to develop a somewhat unique style. A little Mary Blair, a little SHAG, a little Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily, and a little Rolly Crump thrown in for good measure and you have a basic idea of what my art looks like. The goal is to communicate a complex message using simplicity of design while generating nostalgic or happy feelings within the viewer. My unique style was spotted by the team at Disney's D23, the official Disney-run fan club for all things Disney. They approached me to create some artwork they might be able to use in their marketing campaign for an event which would be held at the Walt Disney World Resort. "Destination D: Walt Disney World 40th" would be the ultimate Walt Disney World History symposium, complete with Disney Legends and people who could tell the story of the Resort from before 1971 all the way through the completion and opening of Epcot in 1982. I was honored to be selected to participate. I created an image that would pay homage to a little-known Disney character from the Enchanted Tiki Room's earlier days at Walt Disney World...the Orange Bird. That little bird ended up in their marketing message, fliers, surveys, as a free downloadable desktop wallpaper for your computer, and also as a piece of merchandise. In addition to the Orange Bird, I created my first full-scale animated piece. Richard Sherman would be performing a concert of music that he and his brother Robert had created for the Walt Disney World Resort and one song in particular would feature a special surprise. I was asked to create the backdrop for that moment...and so I re-created the film loop at the beginning of the original "Journey Into Imagination" attraction at Epcot to announce the arrival of Figment and the Dreamfinder on stage. At the event, the Dreamfinder walked on stage to a standing ovation and he and Richard sang the attractions theme, "One Little Spark" while the audience sang along to words projected up on the screen with my art as the background. The name on the door at the end of the day was "Disney", but I personally felt like I had just achieved something amazing. Having the same type of thing happen a second time (having my artwork be well-received as a contribution to an overall experience) made me realize that I have a talent and that I should try some independent projects outside of Disney.   MY ARTISTIC JOURNEY IS JUST STARTING... Even though I have completed numerous projects and have already experienced my "15 minutes of fame", I feel like my artistic journey is just getting underway... After looking back at my experiences with VMK and D23, I have decided to start working on artwork again. I have several projects in the works right now, including digital/online projects as well as some digital/print artwork. I'm so happy you chose to take a few moments to read up on my history and get to know me a bit better. For examples of some of the work I have done, please visit the Gallery page. There, you will see examples of work I have done for Disney as well as some of my personal projects. You can also check out my Blog, which will tell you what I am currently working on. I hope you will visit this site again soon to see how my journey is progressing. If you have any additional questions about my artwork, please do not hesitate to click the "Contact Me" link at the top of the screen. I'm always interested in hearing from other artists or people who might be interested in commissioning a new piece for their home.