I was first introduced to painting in high school by my home room teacher who was also the art teacher (thank you Marsha LaBrie for your instruction and patience). Needing an elective to fill my schedule and having always enjoyed drawing, I decided to take an art course. Given the option of what sort of final project to pursue I settled on painting.  Although I never had time to complete that one still-life painting during the semester, the opportunity sparked the passion I have for painting. I dabbled in acrylics on inexpensive cardboard panels, but college and careers as a civil engineer, a CPA, an attorney, and a corporate tax officer soon consumed my life. My detailed professions reflected my personality. Dreams of painting were put on the back burner; however, that spark never died. Over the years I told myself that when I retired, I was going to paint. My wife, Sue, encouraged my aspiration by occasionally gifting me painting tools for Christmas. I kept them ready for duty in my closet, waiting for the day I could dig them out and put them to use. When retirement finally came, I was true to the promise I had made to myself.

Like many others, I started off by watching every Bob Ross video I could find; however, keeping in line with my personality and professional training, I took notes on each episode.  Before I had started my first painting, I realized that in order to be true to myself I needed to work with more detail. So, I searched for tutorials from other painters, continuing to take my notes. My first four paintings were on canvas and were more impressionistic than subsequent paintings. My drive to learn kept me reading and watching YouTube videos about painting techniques and the art business; again, taking many notes along the way. My home desk and the end table next to my recliner were always littered with notes, and that hasn’t changed to this day. That led to tutorials from additional artists. The notes continued. Currently, my paintings are more detailed and on hard board panels, and for now I’m enjoying this style. However, my search for knowledge and improvement will never end. And neither will my notes. That’s who I am.

My love of nature and the outdoors led me to the retirement activities that I enjoy and keep me busy, fishing and painting landscapes. The fishing and love of nature have always been there, but painting has opened new doors for my appreciation of mother nature. I don’t mind sitting for hours at a lake with a line in the water, even with no bites; however, I do relish the interruptions of bringing a few fish to shore, especially the big ones. I sit and study the sky, the clouds, the trees and bushes, the rocks, and the water. Since I started painting, I notice a myriad of colors in each. The sky isn’t just blue, the clouds aren’t just white, the trees and bushes aren’t just green, the rocks aren’t just brown or gray, and the water isn’t just green or blue. And the shapes are never ending. I sit and think of how I would paint each of them, considering color mixes, brushes and techniques. But as I learned, you don’t just paint the sky, or a cloud, a tree or bush, a rock, or the water. You paint shapes of various colors, adjusting hues, tonal values, intensity, brush strokes, and techniques … and then watch as the items come to life. That is when I’m most excited in my painting, the detail work.

My current thoughts have me thinking of painting wildlife within my landscapes. I included a drake mallard in one of my early paintings and the experience left me wanting to do more. I better get started on more notes.