Art has been a primary force in my life from early childhood when my Uncle John first showed me how to draw a puppy by tracing my thumb. All through school I was known for my drawing and the constant movement of my pencil, a habit for which I am still known. After high school I became one of the first students in Williamsport Area Community College’s new Advertising Art program. That program was strongly grounded in the technical aspects of the Graphic Arts and led to a career in advertising, publishing, computer graphics and printing. In 1979 I moved to Southern California where I worked in the art department of the PennySaver, a weekly direct mail advertising publication that served 103 communities. I ran the night shift art department, which was a high pressure, deadline driven, production art environment, using cut and paste mechanical art production. While there I got my first taste of Computer Graphics when the Company purchased the Compugraphic Advantage, a precursor to the Desktop Publishing tools of today. My aptitude with that system inspired me to seek training on other types of computer graphic equipment. This led to working in the Los Angeles office of a Silicon Valley Computer Graphics Company. Over the next several years I would work for various start-up publishing and Graphics businesses in Southern California using my skills in this emerging technology. In 1990 I returned to Pennsylvania using my knowledge of Graphic Arts to find employment in the printing industry. Working for a Sheet Fed, Offset Printing Company located in the Lehigh Valley I worked closely with advertising agencies and art departments in a variety of industries to produce full color promotional and marketing materials. In 1996 I returned to Graphic Design working in the Marketing Dept. for United Receptacle producing specialty graphics projects, photography, print, and internet marketing materials as well as product design. Joining the Walk-In Art Center in 2014 was a huge step outside my artistic comfort zone. I’ve come a long way artistically since then thanks to the inspiration and creative energy I got being part of an art community. Primarily I am a sketcher. My sketchbook has long been my trusty companion. In my fine art I try to achieve the loose spontaneous style I value in my sketching. Watercolor complements that need for spontaneity. My art can be an unruly beast. He and I struggle. If we’re lucky, sometimes that struggle lets art happen.