“I was inspired to draw by my grandmother, Jessie Johns, at an early age. An artist herself, she gave me the first tools of art. My grandmother sparked the flame for art while Ruth Breeding poured on the gasoline. Ruth drilled into me the desire for art as a student at Morristown East High. There I won my first award of what was trash and broken glass, arranged and glued together. I later studied painting under Ron Castle, who played a major role in how I apply oil to canvas. Ron was a major influence in my paintings. I’ve practiced my art in several forms, styles and mediums over the years. A quick list of mediums would be oil, watercolor, airbrush, pen and ink, pastels, charcoals, graphite, and of course, acrylic. Some of my styles have ranged from realist portraits and scenes to globs of emotions spread over canvas. I’ve recently dove into caricature of individuals, mixed with reality. My favorite medium is pen and ink, with oil a close second, but I have, in my later years, begun to appreciate acrylic and its properties and the simplicities of graphite. “