At an early age, Clay developed a love for the arts. Whether he was creating new cartoon characters or writing wild, imaginative stories, he knew that some day art would become a part of his future. And over the years, his love and passion for the arts has continued to grow.
At the young age of 12, while sitting through Sunday church service, Clay created a new cartoon character on a doodle pad. He then scribbled out a name for this new character: B.....E.....A.....M.....E.....R. Yes, that's right! The very same "Beamer" that stars in the "Leave it to Beamer" book series! And he has continued to draw Beamer through the years to this very day!
During his grade school years, Clay took many summer drawing and cartooning classes. Then in junior high and high school, he took every English class and Art class that he could fit into his schedule. After graduating from Ferndale High School, Clay was accepted at The Center for Creative Studies (C.C.S - now known as the College of Creative Studies) in downtown Detroit where he studied Graphic Design. He also later attended The International Academy of Design & Technology (I.A.D.T) in Troy, MI where he studied Video Game Production.
Originally, Clay's dream was to become a cartoonist and have his very own cartoon strip in the newspaper alongside the famous Charles Schulz (Peanuts), Jim Davis (Garfield) and Bill Amend (Fox Trot) whom he idolized. However, after becoming a father and seeing how much enjoyment his children got when he read them bedtime stories, he decided he wanted to become a children's book author and illustrator. Becoming a published Author quickly became Clay's dream and he focused all of his attention on accomplishing that dream. And through the love and support of his family and with the help of the most amazing publisher, Mascot Books, Clay was able to achieve his dream and he became a published Author for the first time on January 6th, 2015!
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