I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and raised in Freeport where I spent much of my youth hiking through the fields or fishing along Coldwater Creek.

After graduating high school I worked as a welder and commercial painter, but my creative side kept emerging: lunch breaks spent welding scrap metal into abstract sculpture; custom painting cars and motorcycles for myself and friends.

When I turned 30, I spent three months in Arizona mulling over who I was and what I wanted to do. When I returned to West Michigan, I enrolled in Kendall School of Design as a sculptor. I quickly switched to painting, and graduated with a BFA. I then moved to New York and completed an MFA at Parsons School of Design. While out East, I cultivated my love of landscapes with time spent in the Delaware Water Gap area.

Painting is my life now, and has been since 1983. I can't see any other way to spend the time or energy allotted me.

STATEMENT

My art is an internal process, translating onto canvas the feelings and memories of places that have captured my imagination, living nearly all my life closely connected to the land.

This connection with the landscape - its mystery, awesome beauty, serenity - is a source of inspiration and comfort. I work to capture the mood, the spirit, of the land. My work reflects the life I try to lead: living in harmony, without stress, calm, contemplating nature.

I've chosen to use the Impressionist "language" because of its dream-like quality. It's a kind of poetry. I feel like I'm working with the unconscious - partly controlling what happens, partly just letting go. The balance is so mysterious; you never know what will show itself next. How do you explain it? To me, that's part of the gift.