Raised by wolves near Beaumont, Texas, on the Gulf Coast, I started drawing at an early age. When I completed my first painting in 1997, it felt less like beginning something new and more like finally recognizing a gift that had been simmering on a back burner all along.

 

Dissatisfied with the status quo, I left my career as a chef to pursue a life centered around art and music. That leap of faith changed everything.

 

Today I live and create in Estes Park, Colorado (and part time in New Orleans), where the landscape, weather, wildlife, and emotional texture of mountain life deeply influence my work. My watercolors, oils, and mixed media paintings are rooted in emotion, movement, light, and story. I’m less interested in perfection than in capturing something honest and alive.

 

The artists who continue to inspire me include Vincent van Gogh, John Singer Sargent, Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Robert Henri. I would never compare myself to these masters, but their work reminds me to paint with passion, courage, sensitivity, and integrity.

 

Music is equally important to me. Guitar, banjo, and traditional jazz trumpet/cornet/flugelhorn are my mediums - as well as vocals. As a singer, I’m drawn to the same thing in music that I seek in painting: emotional resonance and authenticity. Whether through brushstrokes or music, I want the work to connect with people in a real and human way.

 

I also facilitate gatherings based on Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, helping others reconnect with creativity, spontaneity, and their own artistic voice. Teaching has become one of the most meaningful parts of my journey. I encourage students to loosen up, trust themselves, and embrace the process—because art, like life, is ultimately about presence, discovery, and courage rather than rules.