ABOUT
Born in a crossfire hurricane in 1955, also known as New Jersey, my German heritage had me dressing in lederhosen and button-up shirts, blazers, and ties up until I was about six years old. Before being sent to Catholic school, Oma made me breakfasts fit for a king. My exposure to religion at a young age opened my eyes to many truths, including the facade of piousness, and the greatness of God. Being a military brat to a Green Beret, I lived in many parts of the Americas. Three of the most enchanting and impressive to me were Washington state, where Mount Rainier looked massive even twenty miles away; Tennessee, where my heart calls home no matter where I was; and Panama, Central America - where I saw colors in a way I had never before, or since. When the sun rose straight up over my head, the shadows and richness of life was astounding to me. It has stayed with me all my life.
I was invited to a real Indian Reservation in Washington state when I was in my early teens. That was a tremendous privilege that still remains very near and dear to me. I walked from Panama, C.A. to the American border of Mexico when I was 15, taking my sombrero, my poncho, and my moccasin boots. It took six months. I lived in the jungle, slept on the ground, ate what the jungle provided, and encountered tribes of the most wonderful, humble people I have ever met. It was dangerous, for sure, but, as with the visit to the Reservation, it carved a place in my soul that speaks through my art.
My dad is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and he developed in me a patriotism that took root as a child. I was a Sea Scout, a statistical officer for the Balboa Gun Club - all this between eight and twelve years old. I was trained in combat with other military men’s sons, jumped out of parachute towers, shot at targets with such precision I pissed those grown men off. What I see happening in America now is like a slap to the face of those brave men who gave all for our country. How obscene.
When I was sixteen, almost 17, and living in Medina, OH, I submitted some paintings to the Ohio Poster Company (no longer in existence). They asked me if I would only use the six colors on the wheel (at the time) because they didn’t have the technology to reproduce all of the hues of color that I mixed. I politely declined.
I now live in southwestern Georgia with my wife of 30 years, who God brought to me after a special prayer one night on a little bridge in a little town in New Jersey, and seven cats who live in, out and around my house - never my thing, really. I’m more of a dog person, but I had grown up to love animals and to connect with living, intelligent beings all my life. We lived in Tennessee for a little while and I started the Bridges series there. I entered a couple in the Warren County A&L Fair a couple years in a row and won first prize. I stopped entering after that because I wanted to give someone else the opportunity to have their art appreciated, too.
We have two adult children together, one who lives here in Georgia and one in Tennessee. We have one granddaughter and one grandson.
I knew I wanted to be an artist when I was very young; however, it was not acceptable in my military father’s eyes. My wife gave me that freedom to express all that had been built up within me, with a few exceptive moments in my life. I created beautiful works of stained-glass art for churches, universities, and businesses in the tri-state area of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania and funneled that creativity in my work as a builder.
When I’m not in my studio creating something from nothing, I fish, birdwatch, shoot guns and fireworks, attend church, and love all over my wife. We look at stars together, try to catch the space station when it flies by, mess with my (very few) friends, pick apart those terrible TV shows about the “big bang” and civilizations that have disappeared, and continue to amass thousands of facts that my wife thinks is of absolutely no use, whatsoever. I love it. I’m happy with where I’m at. I give all honor, glory, and praise to God in the Lord Jesus Christ for all of it.