My reward in art is to have enduring images of experiences that were beautiful or fun.  It takes a good deal of time and effort to complete a painting, and I want my energy used to immortalize the good things in life, the scenes that make us smile.  A painting lets me immerse myself in that same feeling whenever I want.  My work is representational in style, if not always realistic in content.  A successful piece will suffuse another viewer with the same sense of wonder, serenity, humor or insight that I had when I created the idea for the painting.
     I have lived in North Carolina for most of my adult life, and in Durham for more than 20 years.  I started painting when my children were small, picking up on an interest I had always had and wanted to pursue seriously.  Most of my exteriors and landscapes are North Carolina scenes, many of a family farm in the western part of the state, some of buildings and places around the Triangle area of NC.  Ideas for paintings are constantly suggesting themselves and I usually have a mental catalogue of several possibilities.
     I start a painting with a clear idea of the final image in mind.  I work from photos and preliminary sketches to establish the composition and iron out some of the details before applying paint to canvas.  Then, beginning with a large brush, I paint in the main areas of color and the general composition, gradually adding more detail and definition in subsequent layers.  Occasionally an inspiration hits me during the development of a painting and I make some changes in content.  My studio is at home and I paint in acrylics, which allows me to work in short snippets of time or longer stretches as the painting and my schedule demand.