About Ryan

 

Ryan had an interest in the arts since he was a little boy. It started out as a grade school art class. Using all different types of mediums, paints, colored pencils, charcoal, pastels, paper mache, pottery and many more. He would more often than not, get frustrated that he couldn’t make his art look like the vision he had in his head. Even some of the teachers had mentioned as such to his parents during parent teacher conferences. None the less, he found himself sketching and doodling landscapes and animals during class when he should have been paying attention to the subject at hand. Again, there was a growing frustration with not having it look real enough or the way he wanted it too. He was always a little envious of the outdoor paintings of animals, barns and cabins hung around the house. Try as he may, the realization set in, that he’d never be at the level of Bob Ross painting happy little trees and making happy little accidents on a canvas. Photography however was one thing that piqued his interest. The majority of the art was already done for him, he just needed to find it and capture it. 

Not realizing it at the time, he had been around photography or film most of his life. Family members always made sure to capture the moments, having a camera or cam corder around during holidays and other family events. For years his mom and Aunt would corral the family together for a group photo. Begrudgingly, with groans and eye rolls as 8-13 years olds do, they’d comply and squeeze together for a few short moments and then back off to the front to continue their nerf battle. His Uncle, counterpart to his photo happy aunt, would walk around with a cam corder in hand, sneaking up on family nonchalantly, to capture the most candid moments. Later on in years, technology got better and he got stealthier with smaller tech. His Aunt would also give her photos as gifts, so he grew up with beautiful macro pictures of dew dropped flowers and serene landscapes hanging on the walls. 

In his early twenties, those videos that were made when he was a child, were rewatched. A peculiar thing happened, as those old VHS’s were being played, nostalgia and vivid memories of loved ones at that particular moment in his life came rushing back. In those moments, he realized photos and film can carry feeling and emotion the way other art does.

His earliest memories of actually taking photos were on school trips with disposable cameras. As he got older different hobbies grew and photography took a back seat. Building things, playing sports, working on the farm, hunting and fishing, getting good grades all took precedence. High school graduation came and went and college had started. More things were added like partying, meeting girls and trying to get into Physical Therapy school. 

After college proved to be a challenging time. The country was just coming out of a recession in 2012 and jobs were hard to find, the dream of being a physical therapist was waning, and there were real bills to pay. He did many things searching for his path. Milking cows on the family farm, becoming a firefighter and EMT at the local volunteer fire department, selling cattle feed and being a medical device rep running an orthopedic robot. At this point photography was all but a distant memory. 

More years went by and locations were changed to accommodate the different career choices. At this point in his life things had gotten challenging to say the least. He was let go from his job, had an incredible amount of debt and had just gotten injured. So newly single, financially, mentally and spiritually broke and physically unable to work he moved home with his parents at 30 years old. Rock bottom. 

The turning point for him was going to a UW Childrens event where former Badger Tackle and NFL Hall of Famer Joe Thomas was the speaker. Matt Lepay, legendary Badger announcer, was interviewing him and asked about his decision to finally hang it up and call it a career. Joe had talked about really struggling mentally with his injuries and the decision to continue to play or not. So this 6’8” mountain of a man had gone to talk to the team therapist to help him in wrestling with some of his feelings. At that very moment Ryan was floored. If the most masculine of men was able to be vulnerable enough to talk about his feelings and struggles with someone then why couldn't he.

So began the journey of therapy and healing. After his first therapy session it was like seeing in color for the first time. He had finally been giving clarity and answers to things he struggled with his whole life. Shortly after getting help, things started to fall into place. He refound his passion for building and working with his hands and started his own construction company. Covid had happened shortly after and his construction company, like most during that time, had taken off like a rocket ship. Work was plentiful, money was rolling in and things were getting good again. Struggles still remained but there was now a support network in place to help him through the challenges of being a small business owner and many of life's other challenges. 

Finally at a place to rediscover his passions, he picked up the first camera he bought as a reward for himself for making a large med device sale years ago. It was a Nikon DSLR 3400 with kit lenses. Nothing special but a great avenue to start. He would take it along on trips up to the family cottage in Northern Wisconsin and take pictures of anything and everything that looked interesting.  From there that passion started to grow. A better lens was purchased along with a quality tripod. Next were some photography classes taken at the Camera Company on Madison’s west side. The first hint that his art work may actually be something decent was the feedback he got from the class teacher. The composition was there but just needed some small tweaks. 

His passion for photography grew steam and the more photos he took the more he found he could express his feelings through his photography. It became a healthy outlet to process his emotions. In the spring of 2025 he took a leap of faith and booked a photography excursion with Four Elements Photo Adventures to the coast of Oregon to really learn the craft. It was one of the most memorable experiences of his life forcing him to get out of his comfort zone and grow. 

Fast forward to today, he has built up enough vulnerability and courage to share his work with the world. He hopes to serve a higher purpose and help the world heal through his art. Even if it's only a little. As a result, Valhalla Art Collective was born. Valhalla is the mythic place for warriors to rest. Everyone has their own battles they deal with and therefore Valhalla Art Collective if for everyone. He believes the world needs more good, more depth and more emotionally vulnerable and healed people, especially men. The hope is that his photography captures human emotion in physical form and makes it tangible for people so that they know they are not alone in how they feel. They are not alone on their journey.