My life long interest in marine environments as well as an ever present enjoyment of art, has given me a passionate focus for retirement.  I am a former high-school teacher with a degree in marine biology.  Other than an arts elective in university  entitled; "The History of Western Art" I have no formal training in this field.  

   Claudia (my wife) and I enjoy hiking, photography, spending time on our boat, and in the past we did quite a bit of scuba diving.

   During my teaching days I would often do a couple of paintings or a wood carving in the summer months.  These served to cover the bare walls on our home.  

   My earlier paintings were inspired by Robert Lynn Nelson of Hawaii.  His detailed and colourful underwater themes lead me to try the same approach with our temperate waters.  

   Over the years, I have stretched my painting style, generally heading towards more impressionism, but I've also dabbled in some cubism and other post impressionist styles. 

  After filling our house with my art, I began gifting to friends and family and eventually started donating them, primarily to the Port Alice auctions that support Cops for Cancer's "Tour de Rock."

   The prices bid for my art at the auctions made sales seem plausible.  One day someone phoned me to enquire about buying one of my works, and I regretfully had to inform them that I had no inventory.  I had just retired, with lots of time on my hands so building up an inventory became my new job.

   Since then, I have enjoyed a moderate but steady stream of sales.  A lot of my early sales came from outdoor venues including: the Telegraph Cove Craft Fair, the Originals Only fair in Comox, the Filberg Festival in Comox, the Sointula Winter Festival, the Water Day Festival in Qualicum, the River City Arts Festival and the Kitty Coleman Woodland Gardens Art Festivals.  I have shifted my showings increasingly towards gallery venues and have enjoyed similar success in doing so.  These galleries include: West Coast Community Craft Shop in Port Hardy, Martine's Bistro in Comox, the Chemainus Theatre gift shop, Art in the Barn in Victoria, the Sidney Art Show and the Village Gallery in Sidney by the Sea.

     In the few short years that I've been doing this, I have sold approximately sixty paintings, to buyers across North America.  Many customers keep track of my progress through my website and have become repeat customers.  I have on several occasions delivered works to people's homes so that they can view them on their own walls.

    I had prints made of a few of my early pieces, but have since decided to restrict my sales to single one-of-a-kind originals.  That means no prints, greeting cards or calendars.

    I have to feel passionate about my subject material, so I will do commissions so long as I have the opportunity to "discover" the subject matter in my own manner.

   Recently, we have said good-bye to the rugged beauty of the northern end of the island and have moved south to Sidney, B.C.  For a time the novelty of living in a more urban setting, along with all its cultural distractions resulted in less painting time, but Covid-19 has put me back in front of my easel.