The questions I am always asked are, “Where did you go to school?” and “Where did you learn to paint?”

Those questions have no clear answers from most established artists.

I didn’t just go somewhere and “learn to paint.”  It’s a process of learning that began the minute I picked up a paintbrush and will continue until the day I die.

Herron School of Art- Indpls, IN
I started Heron School of Art right after high school but dropped out early to join the US Army.

Societe’ De Portrait- Birmingham, AL
Societe’ De Portrait was a delightful art school in the portrait capital of the world, Birmingham, Alabama.  I was deeply saddened to hear the school closed.

Ruth Pritchard- General Studies, Indpls, IN
It was under Ruth's tutelage that I learned I wanted to specialize in painting people.

George Redmon- Portraits and Value Studies, Indpls, IN
I owe much of my portrait studies to George.  He was really responsible for me taking my portraiture to a higher level.

Michael Greene- Edges and Temperature Studies, Boston, MA
Part of giving a subject the dimensional appearance of standing out on the canvass is how we treat edges.  By edges I am referring to the transition from one item in the painting to its adjacent item.  Michael was deeply instrumental in getting me to recognize the importance of how those edges are painted.

The Netherlands Dutch Masters Tour- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Dutch Masters Tour I did in The Netherlands was nothing short of a religious occurrence for me.  I can not begin to explain the impact that it had on the way I paint.  It was a life changing experience.

Michael Brighton- Focal Point Painting, Indpls, IN
Michael Brigthon taught me more in a few days about the importance of focal points in paintings than anyone else before or after.  This man is a genius.

Sarah M. Carpenter- Composition Studies-  New York. NY
Sarah taught me that poor composition in a painting is similar to a cloud without a shape.  May you rest in peace my dear mentor.

Kerry Holsapple- Color Studies, Indpls, IN
I am not sure Kerry Holsapple would even remember working with me at the Southside Art League in Greenwood, Indiana. Although my training with him was very limited, it caused a light bulb to go off in my head about the entire issue of color.  That’s when I threw away my assortment of hundreds of different tubes of paint and began using only the three primary colors of red, yellow and blue.

So the answer to , “where did you learn to paint?” is best answered by my saying, “I didn’t, I am still trying to learn.”