About the Artist

As a kid, I remember watching my Mom paint and wondering if I could ever create images like she did. Her paintings were mostly nature scenes like barns with snow. Occasionally she would even paint a portrait.

When I was in my early 20's, I decided to give it a try. Starting with simple flower paintings in watercolor, I graduated to more intricate paintings at the request of my wife. The last painting I did for her was of the chapel we were married in.  I have had a few requests for portraits as well as pets.  You can see a few of those in the general paintings gallery.

I stopped painting for probably 10-15 years. The hustle and bustle of life can get in the way of a good thing sometimes. I started painting again as a way to give back to a wonderful charity. We met Curing Kids Cancer through our son's diagnosis with cancer at 8 years old. We became good friends with the founders of CKC and were their guests at the huge Mecum Auction in Kissimmee Florida. As I saw them auctioning off various items I thought maybe I could do some paintings of some of the classic cars to give them another item as well as more time in front of an audience to tell their story.

I started painting Road Art using watercolor on paper as that was what I was familiar with.  Trying to get the vibrant colors proved to be difficult so I decided to give Acrylics a try.  This allowed me to get the colors I want but still have a quick drying time so I could finish most paintings in about 8-10 hours.

Thankfully our son survived childhood cancer, but not without some side effect that we have to keep an eye on.  Cancer is terrible disease and there is not enough funding for research for childhood specific treatments.  That's why we choose to support Curing Kids Cancer in their quest to fund research for childhood specific treatments.

I have worked in graphics arts in one form or another for most of my life.  My current job is with Renegade Steel Buildings where I create content and maintain their website along with responsibilities for marketing and IT.

My beautiful wife is a special education teacher with more than 30 years experience.  I am thankful for her love and support over our many years together.

My son is currently in college and has a passion for playing guitar.  You can see much of his playing on his TikTok Channel.

While I am completely self taught (and always learning) in my painting, I do look to a variety of other artists for inspiration.  These painters are quite accomplished and are also willing to show how they do what they do.

Bill McDonald - I recently met Bill while in Gatlinburg.  He had a booth at the art and craft festival that ran for a couple of weeks this last fall.  Walking through the convention center, his artwork stood out with both content and execution.  I recognized some of the locations in his paintings and struck up a conversation with him.  Turns out, he is from my hometown, and lives not far from my parents.  Check out some of his work on his facebook pages.

The McTiers - We met Lucy and Jace McTier through Curing Kids Cancer.  Lucy has painted some of the most intricate and beautiful portraits I have seen, and her son Jace, creates beautiful impressionistic portrait art that is just amazing.  Please take a moment to chech them out at McTierart.com.

Chuck Black -  I came across the you tube channel of Chuck a few years ago and was amazed at his nature paintings.  It was fun to watch his time lapse paintings as he commentated on what, why and how he was painting.  He continues to sharpen his talents and share his love for nature and art.  Be sure to check out his website ChuckBlackArt.com.

Michael James Smith - He is another artist that I like to watch on you tube.  Most of his videos are actually instructional showing how he gets the details in his paintings.