History

After a lifetime spent enjoying drawing and working with pen and inks, 1973 is when a hobby started to become something more.  It was then that I started working with oils.  My wife, Vicki, and I began traveling around the state attending weekend art shows and showing my original oil paintings.  During this time I continued studying other artists and techniques, striving to improve my own work.  As the demand for my work grew I began to publish my art, and my reproductions were well received.  At this time my art was still a hobby.  With a full time job, painting was something I worked on nights and weekends as time would allowed, but that was all about to change.  Ten years after I began showing my work, I decided to leave my comfortable career in advertising and become a full time artist.  I have never looked back.

After our daughter, Angela, finished college; she opened her own art and frame gallery.  Southwinds Gallery is located in our home town of Kernersville NC.  She is a very accomplished framer and works closely with her clients both retail and wholesale. She remains very close to Vicki and me and is my best critic.

Our son, John, was born in 1973 and grew to become quite a fine young man.  He was studying photo journalism and had quite an eye for photography.  In his third year of college he was killed in a car wreck five miles from our home.  We all miss him very much and think of him daily.

Vicki and I are still traveling.  My show schedule has expanded over the years, traveling from New England to Florida and the Midwest.  We have met so many people over the past 37 years, many have become friends and collectors of my work.  We both enjoy our friendship with fellow artists, and look forward to seeing them from year to year.

Recently Vicki and I moved into a farmhouse that was built in 1861.  It is a beautiful old house rich in history and character.  The house has five 6’ windows in my studio and I have the best natural light for an artist.  It’s odd my work is becoming more contemporary and I am in a house that reflects my work 30 years ago.  I will continue to paint traditional pieces, but it has been fun to push the envelope with my contemporary pieces.  I will always strive to become more knowledgeable and a better artist.