Biography

Jude DeFalco was born with a true passion for the arts. Born and raised in historic Kingston, New York, his earliest memories are of sitting at the kitchen table drawing dinosaurs and daydreaming about bringing them to life.

He landed his first art-related job for a well known, but still expanding psychedelic apparel company called Not Fade Away in 1991. He began in production as a tie-dye artist. Within a year his artistic talent and eye for color coordination had proven to be a crucial asset to the company's growing list of clientele. He was promoted to head designer in 1992 and had the opportunity to create t-shirt designs for some of the music industries top acts including The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, Pink Floyd, KISS, The Estate of Bob Marley and Santana to name a few.

Jude was commissioned to create custom stage apparel worn by Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead. Jude designed and produced 20 tie-dyed flags for the Woodstock '94 Festival held in upstate New York. His tie-dye designs can also be seen in the movies "White Men Can't Jump" where Woody Harrelson wears a tie-dyed cap in an early scene, as well as scenery and apparel seen in "Rude Awakening" starring Cheech Marin. Among other notable projects were designs for Bill Clinton's Inaugural Bash, the U.S. Olympic Ski Team, the Lithuanian Olympic Basketball Team, Comedy Central, Swatch, & MTV and an impressive list of world famous psychedelic artists including Peter Max, Stanley Mouse, and Rick Griffin.

In 1996 he began attending a small community college in pursuit of becoming more active in the arts. There he discovered black and white photography. He spent the next several years focusing on photography and graphic design. He was still in search of a medium he could truly express his feelings with, and neither were working to his advantage. He graduated from the State University of New York at Ulster in 1998 with an A.S. Degree in Advertising Design and Graphic Technology.

In 1999, on a whim Jude visited a local art supply store and purchased several canvases, brushes and paints. After completing his first painting on December 13, 1999 (his 30th birthday) he was hooked! He had at last found a medium that helped to convey his true artistic expression. He jumped into the local art scene feet first and joined a cooperatve gallery (Upfront Art) and exhibited his paintings in several group shows and benefits throughout 1999 and 2000.

In 2001 Jude founded Mid-City Art Gallery in Kingston, in support of the growing amount of emerging artists in the area. In 2002 the gallery was re-located to uptown Kingston's historic stockade district, and the name was changed to Skybox Gallery. In 2003, Skybox Gallery moved to a larger space a block from the previous location were he would host salon style art shows which often included 30 to 40 different artists of all styles and backgrounds. Skybox Gallery would also host drawing classes, art business seminars, workshops, poetry readings, open mics, drum circles and more! Under Jude's direction and true enthusiasm for the arts, Skybox Gallery had proven to be a breath of fresh air among the art gallery scene in Kingston. Skybox Gallery held it's final opening in 2004.

Currently, Jude runs Bullseye Graphic Design and resides in the beautiful Hudson River Valley in upstate New York with his wife and 2 children.