"Burgess Falls State Park" Painting

I've painted my entire life since my first watercolor classes at age 10 when I announced I wanted to learn to paint clouds. Developing the skill sets to handle watercolors, oils and acrylics was necessary for me to capture the range of moods that Nature creates in the subject matter that I most love it paint. I chose to make my living in the media of landscape architecture where design and the natural environment merge. This evolved into urban planning and thirty years at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. that culminated with my serving as Deputy VP for Design & Facilities, responsible for overseeing the total environment on the 330-acre campus. In 2015 I left Vanderbilt to engage fulltime with nonprofits involving both the environment and art. I've twice served as president of a 100-member Plein Air nonprofit, The Chestnut Group, that in 2026 celebrated its 25th year of partnering with the Nashville parks to host art shows of paintings produced by its member artists. Almost half of the sale proceeds from each show is donated back to the park. These donations have exceeded $500,000 over the organization's history. Continuing to study and instruct, staging exhibits, and participating in numerous outdoor and juried art events, has broadened my style in the ongoing quest of capturing the subject matter that still emotionally speaks to all of us.