Painting the countryside, mountains, lakes, streams and ocean has been in my blood since childhood. As noted in the biography, my grandfather was a professional artist and his studio was available to me. I spent many hours "playing" in the studio copying his drawings and paintings. Growing up during the era of citrus ranching was, for me, akin to that of a century earlier when young people picked up and "headed out west." I spent much of my time running through the citrus groves and the hills of the Santa Ana Mountains. At age 10, I began a butterfly collection. My dad gave me "The Butterfly Book" by W. J. Holland and built several showcases and helped me mount the butterflies. For summer vacations he took me on trips to many different and wonderful places, most of which included butterfly habitat. One memory stands out for me; my dad took me to Palm Desert and to the museum which also had watercolor paintings on display. The watercolors held me completely captivated for what seemed like a long time.

My grandmother was a very motivating force in my youth. She supplied most of the art materials and projects for me. Grandma bought me a water color set, handed me some pictures and set me up at the table. I remember biting my tongue really hard as I tried to do a painting. After the trip to Palm Desert, she gave me some oil paints and suggested I "decorate" her breakfast nook windows by painting on them from what I had seen at the museum. When I was 10 or 11, she also arranged for my first "job" (without pay, of course). At the church on Saturdays I did chalk drawings on the blackboard from bible pictures for the pastor to use during his sermon.

I have always been in awe of nature. The endless tones of green, of sunlight breaking up dark shadows, the variations of earth tones and rock formation were very exciting to me as a child. That excitement continues to be uplifting and pushes my sensory perceptions to the extreme. Nature, in its strengths and subtleties, is very allusive and hard to capture. I am constantly challenged in my attempts to capture that subtlety and strength by using the application of color to enhance the contrasts that I see in the landscape.