"I was born and raised in Kelowna. I graduated from secondary school in 1969 and was accepted into Alberta College of Art in Calgary. I received an advertising art diploma from the college and went to work for a company in the city. In 1976 I opened my own business in Calgary designing logos, brochures, annual reports and a lot of illustration for architects and developers. In 1980 we moved the family and business back to Kelowna. I kept the business going until 1985 and decided to start painting full time. Two of my paintings were picked for the B.C. Festival of Arts in Penticton. In 1994 we moved to Hornby Island for a 9-month period to see how we liked living on the West Coast. We loved Hornby but it was a little out of the way for us, so we bought a house on the Sunshine Coast. Lived there and then moved to Qualicum Beach. There is a great artist community in Qualicum and we've decided that this is where we want to live.

In Kelowna I was involved in the beginning of a new public gallery. I was on the board of directors for 2 years. The group was called Okanagan Artists Alternative and it involved about 50 artists from all over the Okanagan. We put together exhibitions about every 6 months. During my time with the group I experimented with my work. I tried new styles and the theme shows offered new subjects to try to make paintings from. It's helped me in the work I'm doing today.

There has always been the debate about inherited versus acquired ability. I'm leaning towards inherited. When I was very young my uncle quit art school and gave me his art supplies. This included oil paint, brushes and canvas. I still have some of the paintings I did back then but most of them where given to relatives and friends of my parents. Most of my childhood memories had something to do with art. I was always being asked to draw or paint things for friends and teachers. I won poster contests and received awards in high school for my paintings and drawings. My high school art teachers guided me towards a career in fine art by showing me what art college was all about. Many other people have helped me along the way.

Realism has suffered in the last generation or so but I think it is slowly making a comeback. Today's realism is different than traditional realism in that this generation of artists is expressing experiences and making statements about our human condition.

Because of the style I paint in, I use photography as a reference, sometimes combining several photos to make one painting. Digital technology has changed photography forever. I can go out and take a picture, make a print and start a painting from that photo in the same day. When I do paint on location it's mostly to capture the mood and colour. These paintings are just colour sketches. This is something I wish I could do more often because it's a good exercise for an artist to experience the real thing.

I like taking something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary. I try to capture a moment and put it down for everyone else to experience. I paint almost every day and when I can't, it feels unnatural, like something is missing. Because of my realistic style I can paint any subject that inspires me from busy modern life to peaceful country landscapes.

There have been a few times where I try and change my painting style but I always return to realism. This change often involves all kinds of different media and content. Sometimes the work is totally abstract inspired by music or feelings about current events. These paintings are done just for the experience of change and are usually not shown in galleries. Change in style is a learning experience. I learn something new from each painting I do, no matter what style I am working in.

Travel is also very important to my paintings. Everywhere I go I take my camera, taking as many photo's as possible. I recently spent 5 months in England and while there I painted English landscapes. This is an experience that can't be done unless one has spent time there. The buildings, trees, light and colour are all so different. Now that I have been home for a few months, the photos are important because they bring back the feelings I had about the places we visited."