Deep in the Imagining #14 Painting

About the Artist I am a regular guy gifted with an urgent passion and desire to create which has been enhanced by my life experience. Growing up during the turbulent sixties and as a child witnessing the assassinations, beatlemania, the anti-war protests, the violence, the civil rights movement, psychedelic music, going to the moon, and having a home environment in frequent upheaval all had a profound effect on who I was and who I became; a deeply emotional, passionate, spiritual and creative little boy and man. Being an artist for me was not only a matter of learning to be one, but also as a matter of learning that I was born with that gift of the desire to be one. What is also important to me as a human being is the responsibility of being human; of recognizing that we all have crosses to bear on our journeys. We need to talk and listen with one another rather than condemning and interfering with another's path. I started my path in Fort Wayne, Indiana (July 31,1957). I attended three elementary schools, two middle schools, but managed to stay in one high school (Northrop High School, class of "˜76). I received my Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from Saint Francis College (now known as the University of Saint Francis) in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1981. I was granted an assistantship and earned a Master of Fine Arts from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio in 1987. My main areas of study were drawing, printmaking, and photography. My original intention was to go into art education first at the school level and then at the college level. Both areas were very competitive. I have worked as an art instructor part time at college level, limited experience as a substitute teacher K-12, a cook, a computer operator, bank teller, an embroidery machine operator for a sporting goods company, warehouse worker, and loading trucks and trailers for a major shipping company all the while continuing to create and grow artistically. I currently work in transportation. I now find myself at this current experiment with the internet.