I began studying art as the eight-year-old student of Cincinnati artist, A.F. McCarthy, who was a student of the noted late 19th century American realist Frank Duveneck. I continued my studies at Thomas More University in Northern Kentucky and have never stopped learning!
Early in my career I owned and operated art schools in Kentucky and North Carolina. Today, besides painting, I conduct workshops and demonstrations across the U.S. One of my greatest rewards as an artist is passing on knowledge and experience to beginners and artists of all levels.
I am a founding member of The Monday Studio (TMS). For more than a decade, my TMS artist friends and I have painted together every Monday! In 2007, we wrote and published The Monday Studio. We owned and operated Gallery 726, a fine art gallery in Hot Springs, for several years. We continue to exhibit together on a regular basis.
I have been teaching watercolor painting aboard cruise ships for eight years. I love the chance to teach new and veteran watercolorists. Along the way, I find many wonderful scenes from our travels to fill my art travel journals and to create larger works once back in my studio.
I live in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, amid the natural beauty of Hot Springs National Park and The Ouachita National Forest, where there is plenty of sujbect matter for my paintings. I love to paint the people and places along my worldwide travels, teaching as I go wandering. So it’s no surprise that I take my inspiration from my surroundings, my travels, and, also, my family.