Attended art school at Nazareth College in Rochester. Stuart Ross was my favorite painting teacher there. He lives in Maine and paints landscapes still.

Got a little scholarship to blow glass at Penland School for the Arts in NC where i met Paulus Berenson who invited me to visit his farm in Pa. I did just that a year later.

Lived at Paulus’ farm and worked in pottery with MC Richards. It is here where i get my arts philosophy straighter. Making the world beautiful is important work. It pervades all you do. And you need to make yourself as good a person as possible too. It’s all important for the peace and prosperity of the world. I discover the Baha’i Faith at this time also. MC invited me to accompany her to some presentations she was giving in Massachusetts and at Colby College in Maine that winter. I was doing these bottles in clay, blowpots you might call them, and gave a short demo as part of her presentations. I also helped with the driving. Hours of driving together brought us closer together….she was a highly developed soul.

Moved to Canada to dodge the draft for a bit. Sold all the pottery pieces from my time in school in Rochester at a local gallery in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Returned to PA, failed my draft registration exams, got married , started a family and again worked as a potter/carpenter with MC at Jeffers Pond near Hopbottom. She saw that i was always drawing with clay on my pots so suggested that i just paint. And so it was awhile later…. I left my potters wheel there and moved to Alabama.

While living in Tuskegee I enrolled in art courses at Auburn University for 2 years where I painted in oils outdoors. John Constable was my mentor at this time. Finally got my bachelors degree then with the art credits.

Richmond VA. for a year, 6 years in Ecuador and I drew and painted on the side always. I was making my living as a carpenter full time since living in Tuskegee but always draw and paint some, waiting for my chance to return to them full time.

A few years ago in Ithaca area I organized an art show in an 1829 Greek Revival house that my son and I restored in Waterburg. The completed house was beautiful and the working class paintings hung throughout were a wonderful addition. I sold quite a few of them and the house too as it turns out.

Most recently, I showed 30 watercolors at the Alternatives Bank in Ithaca, NY. The night before I hung the pieces here, MC, who was absolutely glowing, appeared to me in a dream and said, among other things, “I love your work”. There it is folks. A stamp of approval from a high priestess of the arts. I’m not sure what she meant by “your work”….one’s life…..the watercolors? Look, it was the night before and I am nervous and she choose that time to come and calm and assure me. Most likely the watercolors but you never know.

This Spring (2016) I have taken some shorter trips, most recently to Philadelphia on my bicycle, camping and sketching en route. You see a lot more of the world when you move at a slower pace and I enjoy sharing the little bit of the planet that I’ve had the honor of passing thru. The paintings from that trip are beginning to appear on the blog site.

Now I am contemplating a longer bike ride across the USA but need to be disciplined about doing a sketch every day. That would help me to justify my taking so much time doing something that I enjoy so much……it just doesn’t feel right.            to be continued i hope