About The Artist From my youth on I have appreciated fine works of art. Pencil drawings and sketches led to my interest in painting which has been a passion for over 43 years. As a "self-taught" artist I feel I have grown in my skills through observation and study of many of the great artists from past and present. Some of my greatest influences comes from contemporary artists such as David Leffel, Richard Schmid, Morgan Weistling and plein air landscape artist Matt Smith. I greatly admire the work of many of the California Plein Air painters such as Edgar Alwin Payne, John Frost and William Wendt. The rich color of oil is my favored medium. Always striving to improve by varying my style from loose free flowing form and texture, to detailed work, glazing colors to a transparent like glow. I am always drawn to knife painting, maybe because of the texture and impressionistic characteristic of the finished painting. The vast majority of my work is painted from life. At times, photos can be helpful as a reference when necessary. "Working from life allows an artist to improve perception of reality and to translate that into artistic impressions." Plein air painting is a true blessing. Painting on location is the best way to observe the beauty of God's wonderful creation. I often take these small plein air pieces back to the studio to develop into larger works. Nothing makes an impression as to color, value and mood than working from these on location sketches.