This website is created to share with you major aspects of my creative and/or professional lives. I could not completely or rightly do so without letting you know that all of my life I have been first and foremost known as an artist. Some people "naturally" have exceptional talent with something that many other people struggle.
I honestly think that everyone has that 'talent' or 'ability' with SOMETHING. Not everyone discovers it within themselves. Not everyone's talent or ability is noticed by others or appreciated by others. Just like every part of a machine matters and had a purpose when designed...also every one of us was made with purpose and on purpose.
I was one of the lucky ones who discovered his unique talent/ability at a very early age and also that it was noticed and appreciated by other people. I noticed early on that my ability to draw well got me positive strokes and favor with people, so of course, I continued to develop it over the years.
I will be honest to share with you that I had an unconfessed reason for pursuing being an artist which drove me for most my young and adolescent lives. My father was divorced from my mother when I was only two years old and I saw him for only moments at a time about once every handful of years as I was growing up. However, my relatives would always say,"You are just like your father...He is SO ARTISTIC." When I was about 5 years old, I had received a carved Deer head that I cherished. It was made by my father while he was in jail for a few years. Over the years I saw a few more things that he had carved.
I could see that he had talent and so I strove to be the best artist I could be...to make him proud. By the time I was 16-17 years old, my skills had far surpassed anyone else's of which I knew. And I had the opportunity to finally visit my father. I showed him what I had accomplished and asked him to show me what he had done (expecting to be amazed at his incredible talent). No disrespected intended when I say that what I saw could have been drawn by a middle schooler.
I learned that expectations and reality don't always line up well. I also learned that it is interesting what motivates us and that you might be surprised in life about what makes you better or by what makes you less than better.
BY age 17, I was accepted to Tulane University in New Orleans as an Engineering major...but in the back of my mind, I was willing to fall back on "Fine Arts" if I changed my mind. After one year there, I decided to change my major to Fine Arts and finish out my college years much more locally and inexpensively at the University of Southern Maine in Portland and Gorham.
I have provided a link to some of the portraits I have done over the years...check them out right HERE. At some point I went into business drawing quick sketches at craft fairs and events. I called it "Preferred Portraits". I still accept portrait commissioned work. Feel free to check it out on FB HERE.