Though not born in Montana, from the age of eight I have lived almost exclusively in Montana, and feel like a duck out of water everywhere else. I hope a love for the wide-open spaces is observed in my work.
My dear wife and I have together raised six kids in Montana with a strong respect for the Bible and all of God’s creation. In my art I try to portray good things of His creation, and maybe a touch of an even better world that is coming.
My work has a strong impressionistic tendency probably because as a musician I love to improvise with string instruments, sensing and responding to the concepts and movements of other musicians. In my paintings I am the only artist, but the interaction of color, shape, line, texture, etc., is foremost in my mind — not painting objects.
Usually the landscapes and animals that I paint are quite abstract in the beginning stages. Then for clarity I refine the interactive elements, and bring in detail where needed.
I was trained well in the basics of drawing and design by Jim Corr at Western Montana College. The next thirty years I did very little art, but somehow I was slowly learning how to apply all of those art concepts while I was painting houses, and raising six kids with my dear wife. Maybe call it a side-benefit of fatherhood.