About

In 1973, D.C. (Derick Christopher) Sumrall was born to a dentist and a housewife in Laurel, Mississippi. He was brought up in a home of art, music, and southern tradition. Weekends were filled with family mini-adventures exploring the U.S. countryside.

Early into his childhood, Derick’s parents divorced, after which his mother went back to school to become a teacher for gifted students, while his father continued to grow his dental practice. During this time, Derick was cared for by his grandparents where he was exposed to southern farming culture. This was an opportunity to make believe and explore the countryside, while capturing those moments in drawings.

After high school, Derick took a scholarship to Memphis College of Art where he refined his perspective on art and emerging technologies, and eventually graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts and a Masters of Fine Arts. Eager to prove himself, he started out as an Interactive Designer at a local advertising company.

Four years later, on a hot sticky summer evening, D.C. Sumrall had a life-changing near-death experience with an apartment fire. He lost everything–his paintings, drawings, equipment… everything, except the clothes on his back. With the help of friends and family though, D.C. Sumrall was able to start over with a new outlook and a new set of priorities in life.

This experience drove D.C. Sumrall to do something bold and new, which led him to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania–a city with vast creative opportunities. During this move, he decided to embrace something out of the ordinary for himself. He had always focused on the visualization of storytelling through art, but now he recognized a new need to parallel his art with words and to share his stories with the world.

Today, D.C. Sumrall lives in the Philadelphia area and is married, traveling and composing stories with southern roots and quirky outcomes.