I'm not sure I can tell you why I paint, or why I choose the subject matter I do. I know that often times - if not most of the time - the scenes have triggered some feeling or made me recall a memory long forgotten that I feel compelled to try and capture.

Most of my paintings are in acrylics because of the versatility and quick drying time, although I think of it as a love/hate relationship; I'm still learning how to handle them. The very characteristics that draw me to them have forced me to think through my subject matter and paint in glazes, one layer at a time. Of course, this gives my paintings a dimension they wouldn't have were I painting in one step, so I guess that works to my advantage . . .

I've painted for quite some time now, first as a hobby for family and friends. Most of my work has gone to private collectors in several states across the nation and two ( I think ) are even in foreign nations.

I don't promote my work through normal artistic channels because I am a very private person. I grew up on the prairies of Southwest Louisiana on a farm that raised rice and cattle. My ancestors on one side of the family came to America in the 1870's from Austria, and the other side came to Louisiana as Acadian refugees much earlier. We were settlers; perhaps that's why old homesteads and open, overgrown pastures appeal to me.