If you’ve heard my story before, I’ll try to add more flair. My Dad once told me about trading a new pair of roller-skates for a sailboat, I think he called it a Snipe, and he kept it hidden at a local pond. Much later, while he was still living, I came home from work and told him I just bought a boat. Imagine the look on his face. The Annapolis Sailing School experience gave me a great start but the decision came to me with Dad’s old story.
Time passed and I always found myself living near a body of water with a boat. Colleges, a brief stint in art school, then graduate school, followed by art workshops and mentorships all influenced how I approached art making. I love chemistry and discovery of the nature of things. I have to understand it, everything about “it” before the subject or idea goes down on paper, canvas, sandpaper or whatever the supply stores sell.
We lived in Bucks County, PA with a circle of artist friends. The exposure was breath-taking. I got to see how they worked at art for a living and collected art for their pleasure. It becomes my mission then to spread art-awareness to everyone I meet especially in communities that know little about the visual arts. If you cross my path, there will be either talk of sailing or art.
My watercolor shown here is part of a local hospital collection and is referenced by our boatyard on the Eastern Shore of MD. The photo is of me at the boatyard using my art skills to paint a Bermuda Longtail on the transom of our 42ft Grampian. The paint job has held up for over 20 years. I try my best to do it right the first time.