I was born in Carmel California but Iwas raised in Tampa Florida. When I was a child, I always loved to draw. One of my fondest memories was sitting in my grandmother's kitchen at the big table and drawing. Back then, I didn't know that pencils came in more than just #2. I was happy though. As I grew up, people told me I had a talent for drawing . Once I drew some simple Disney cartoons like Mickey or Goofy, and my mother thought I traced them. I hadn't though, and at some point, I thought of working as an old fashioned animator. As I got older though, I slowly forgot about drawing as more important things gained interest. I entered my dark years of art. My pencil collected dust and my drawings yellowed with age. Then one day when I was almost 40, a friend suggested I should go back to school and get a degree. I thought about it and figured that art would be interesting, so off I went.

While I was in college getting that parchment, two of my classes were "Drawing I & II". My old love the pencil was about to walk in the door again after nearly 25 years of gathering dust. To my surprise, it all came back. The fun, the challenge, the excitement, had only been sleeping. In those two classes, I learned many things that helped me grow as an artist.

Today, I love drawing again, and portraits, once a fear, are now a joy. The skills I learned in school are paying off, though I still can't believe that what started out as doodling at my grandmother's kitchen table, has become a means of making a living.