I was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. During my school years I visited the southwest and in 1985 moved to New Mexico. Over the last two decades I have shared time between the Northwest and Southwest regions of the U.S. and have developed a love for each of these disparate places. Just as countless artists before me, I am inspired by the light and landforms of the west and find myself compelled to record these inspirations through my painting. In quiet moments spent in the presence of these great vistas one can not help but reflect and contemplate their beauty as well as the potential for beauty in all of us. I have a reverence  for the painters of the Hudson River School who recognised the sublime in "wild" places and most especially the painters of the Barbizon School of France who broke with the convention of their time and helped to elevate landscape painting. It is in the shadow of these kindred spirits past and present that I hope to achieve my potential as a painter.