I grew up with a love of painting and drawing fostered by my mother, a watercolor artist. After graduating from Northern Arizona University with a degree in art, I joined the Peace Corps and served for three years as a graphic artist in Botswana, Africa. The next twenty years were spent pursuing an accounting career, while spending as much time as possible exploring mountains, canyons, and deserts. I took thousands of photos while hiking, skiing, biking, or just driving along back roads. I think that helped me develop a skill of looking at the landscape and identifying elements that would create a good composition. I started taking classes at the Art Students League in Denver and by the early 90's decided to start over and become a serious artist. Studying at the Art Students League and traveling with various artists I found painting to be a consuming passion, one that demanded the learning of a whole new language, a visual language. I came to admire and love the paintings of great artists and to be able to see the language they were using. Just as each person has his own signature, each artist must develop his own visual words and phrases. It is from this visual language that my paintings are built. The act of creating artwork is an addiction. While I am painting, I seem to be an observer as the paint goes onto the canvas. It’s only when finishing a painting that I become aware of a product that will be put into a frame. I think of my paintings as if they are windows into my own world, one taken from nature and then altered to include my favorite places, colors, and shapes. One of the real joys of painting on location is a phenomenon that happens when time passes. When you settle in to paint all the life around begins to show: a man comes out of the house in the valley, gets in his truck, and drives away; a school bus lumbers by and picks up some kids; cows or horses come closer; or a huge owl soars overhead. Time enlivens the landscape and reveals its secrets. Sometimes when I set up to paint I find it's hard to choose where to look and what to paint. After finishing the painting, I realize that there was a scene waiting to be painted in every direction. It's as if the scales have been removed from my eyes and I can really see everything for the first time. I find inspiration in nature and in the way that people have inhabited it. I love old buildings, crooked roads and glimpses of water. Valleys and mountains form landscapes to hold our attention. Endless desert vistas make us feel free. When someone responds to one of my paintings it means that I have captured some essence of reality that crosses over into their world. Perhaps it triggers a distant memory or reminds them of a place they would like to stay, if only life would allow. When someone finds comfort in one of the places I have created I know I have succeeded.