My Background
My Inspiration
My Background
I arrived in California at the age of 7 in 1950 with my mother and sister from
Michigan to join my Father in El Segundo, CA. I was raised in LA county, close to
the beach. Dropped out of high school and enlisted in the United States Marine
Corps on November 30, 1961. I was shipped to the Marine air station at Oahu,
Hawaii, in late 1962, then
I arrived in California at the age of 7 in 1950 with my mother and sister from
Michigan to join my Father in El Segundo, CA. I was raised in LA county, close to
the beach. Dropped out of high school and enlisted in the United States Marine
Corps on November 30, 1961. I was shipped to the Marine air station at Oahu,
Hawaii, in late 1962, then in 1964, transferred to Okinawa, and later to Vietnam inmid-1965. Then returned to California, was released from active duty in 1966.
Using the GI bill, I enrolled at El Camino College Torrance, CA. Next, I moved to
northern California and enrolled at American River College in El Dorado County,
two more years, then enrolled at Cal. State University Sacramento and graduated in
1975.
I lived in El Dorado County for 49 years and retired from the health care
industry in 2010. I moved to Tennessee in June 2020 to live with my son Stephan
and his wife Haley near Nashville. I started painting in the 3rd grade after receiving
an oil painting set for Christmas 1953.
Doing art became my identity while in
public school. I decided not to pursue art as a business in high school. Over the
many decades, finding favor with judges at local, regional, and international art
competitions has earned many awards, for which I am grateful. I have two other
sons and two granddaughters living in California.
My Medium
My Inspiration
My Background
Starting with pencil and paper, advancing to painting first using watercolors,
then oil paints at an early age. It was slow going in my early years navigating the
divided interest’s life offers and budgeting time for those many attractions,
including art. Nevertheless, with the advantages, time and income provide,
eventually, everything I nee
Starting with pencil and paper, advancing to painting first using watercolors,
then oil paints at an early age. It was slow going in my early years navigating the
divided interest’s life offers and budgeting time for those many attractions,
including art. Nevertheless, with the advantages, time and income provide,
eventually, everything I needed become possible. Sadly, however, I lost almost
everything in a fire in September 2017. A few paintings under glass survived and
some odds and ends. But the upside of the loss was the opportunity to start over
accumulating what was lost. The ability to develop new mediums has been one of
the advantages of recovering my art equipment. It would not be an exaggeration to say mediums are my favorite elements for doing art. Replacing the technological
and material losses the fire destroyed like paint, cameras and lenses, matt-cutters,
computers, monitors, brushes, mediums, projector, drafting tools and table,
lighting, chairs, cabinets, tool caddies, printer, easels, and desks was a benefit of
the changes the fire caused. Something about the tactical sensation of holding a
tool and seeing the magic of color and movement converted into one's vision of
reality is fascinating. It does not matter what we paint or draw; the outcome is
always a miracle because humans are made by divine ordination. The one art book
I wrote is titled "Managing the Medium". If anything defines my artistic focus, it
has always been the medium’s that ignite the passion for doing the art.
My Inspiration
My Inspiration
My Inspiration
It is often difficult to pinpoint the exact reason why we are dedicated to
something like doing art. It presumably starts with discovering we like doing
something in particular, like drawing, building, singing, playing music, or perhaps
cooking. Watching my children discover the influences that kindled what inspired
their individuality was in
It is often difficult to pinpoint the exact reason why we are dedicated to
something like doing art. It presumably starts with discovering we like doing
something in particular, like drawing, building, singing, playing music, or perhaps
cooking. Watching my children discover the influences that kindled what inspired
their individuality was instructive. I was conscientious to always approve of
whatever their interests were and funded them to the best of my ability. They are a
source of inspiration to me, and their experimental ways of discovering what
inspired them. However, I can go months without any art activity, and then
inspiration turns on. When I am not being creative, my way of looking at the world
is evaluating what I see and seeking to determine how I might paint a particular
subject. The centerpiece of creativity, I believe, is motivation, so the question
becomes, what is driving our activity? As motivation is the pathway to human
enterprises, should we ask "why am I doing this"? The answers if often business.
Business drives income, so if art is the source of our business, the advantage for
many people is earning income from doing what they love. On the other hand,
most of us have conventional jobs and do the things we love when opportunities
and time permits; that is my story with the caveat; I believe some people are given
extraordinary gifts that DNA is designed to facilitate because we are made not
evolved.