From a very young age I have been fascinated
with animals. Watching the horse drawn gerrys in Libya and feeding the
milkman’s horse in Australia played a part in my desire to become
an artist. After attending college, I went to an advertising art school
in Houston, Texas and I used those skills in the printing business for
a number of years. I realized that I had a knack for portraits after
taking a drawing class in 1988. Shortly after that I took my
first canine portrait commission.
I’ve learned about art from a variety
of people and places, but observation of nature has taught me
about hue and value. Colors are influenced by the amount of light
present and by the colors that they are next to. Much of life
seems that way to me. I work mainly in pastels because they have a
richness and earthiness that can express the liquid depths of a
horse’s eye or the reflected light on a dog’s coat like no
other medium can. Whether my subject is a powerful stallion or a tiny,
much-loved dog, my goal is to capture the personality of the
individual.
One of the recently completed paintings in
my portfolio is leading Texas sire, Valid Expectations. This commission
was featured on the cover of the Texas Thoroughbred Association 2004
stallion directory. The original is owned by Lee Ackerly of Smith and
Associates.
I live in Elgin,Texas near Austin with an
array of animal and human personalities who are as colorful as my
paintings.
