I once received a gift of words from a friend who told me, "I wish I could see the world as you do. You see things differently, through artist's eyes."  I liked that he thought that way about me.  I paint the landscape as I want it to be. I move trees, plant flowers and add color to the canvas with my palette knife. I love color.  I've been adding color to the world ever since I picked up my first crayon. 

As a child, I always drew pictures. Instead of throwing away discarded paper at work, my dad would bring stacks of it  home and let my two brothers and me draw on it.  I remember sitting at a restaurant, drawing on a paper placemat and suddenly realizing how to draw  more  believable hair instead of two sticks hanging off a round head.

It was a magic moment. I began to look at how objects were actually put together.

Although my parents encouraged my creative endeavors, they never wanted me to study art.  Instead, I earned a Bachelor's degree in Journalism right out of high school and later a Bachelor's in Geology. After a life crisis led me to teaching at an engineering university in Japan, I decided to get a Master's Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages with Applied Linguistics.

During those years, I never left art behind.

I bought an airbrush. I tried. Failed. And tried again. Finally I realized it wasn't me, it was the airbrush. If you can't succeed, blame it on the equipment. I bought a different brand.  Soon I abandoned cutting frisket and created images freehand. I played with color pencils to complement the airbrush. I won awards from local competitions and had exhibited in shows in Texas and California.  To make money while working on my skills, I airbrushed t-shirts at a mall in Midland, Texas.  Painting t-shirts in a mall is a performing art. On Saturdays, crowds of people would surround my booth, watching me paint.  Two of my t-shirts won international Fruit of the Loom Awards.

When I traveled, I carried sandpaper and colored pencils. 

I stopped painting for several years. In 2017, I joined an art retreat in Taos sponsored by SMU.  I had never painted with oils in my life. I had no idea where to begin.  Cassandra Black, a fantastic artist worked next to me.  She is a magician with a brush. I was intimidated. My first oil painting will never be seen by others again. But I didn't stop trying.

This group of painters have supported my efforts and critiqued my gaffs. And I do the same for them. We've taught each other a lot.. We continue to go to Taos in the summer and paint in the Dallas area during the fall and spring.  Our instructor and friend, Suzanne Kelley Clark has done a lot for me and the others in our group. She knows when to complement and when to guide us to see the world better through our canvases. I hope to keep growing.