Dino was raised in the Chicago area where art was and still is an integral part of the society. During his early years, his teachers began to notice an exceptional artistic talent and it was then he was deemed a prodigy. One teacher, in particular, made it her mission to get his talent recognized and subsequently helped him get a full scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago at the age of fourteen. But, as fate would have it, he was not able to attend for long. When he was sixteen years old, the family moved to the Los Angeles area. It was an extremely disappointing time for him to leave the Institute, but he vowed to finish his program of study as soon as he could. Instead of finishing his degree, he had to go to work to help support the family, thus it took 30 years of working as a Landscape Contractor and Designer to finally lead him back into the arts. He can say he is now happily pursuing his original passion and has included sculpting into his repertoire.