Art Calls Me

This is me now.

I used to be a lawyer.  Now I am an artist.

How did I do it, you ask?  Read on.

I was a practicing attorney representing ordinary folks and championing the “underdog” for almost 25 years.  I have always had a passion for helping people.  But I my first true love was always art.  As a youth, I received private art instruction in Charleston, SC and in high school in Paducah, Ky (now home to Lower Town, a nationally renowned collective of artists and galleries).  I earned some art awards and accolades.  I even sold some “psychadellic” pop art posters that were popular at that time.  I wanted to go to art school, but that didn’t work out.  I continued to dabble in art sporatically over the years, but with small children there was no place I could leave art materials out and, once I put them away, it was hard to get started again.  However, when my kids got older, this problem was solved.  So, in 2005 (while I was still engaged in a full time law practice) I set up a home studio and began to educate myself by devouring hundreds of magazine articles,  instructional books and videos on watercolor and acrylic painting.

Originally, I focused on watercolor, because I was always fascinated by the luminous look of the transparent paint.  I joined the Kentucky Watercolor Society and exhibited four paintings at their 2006 show for new members.  As I continued my self education, I became enamored of acrylics and the various mediums that go with them.  I began to explore these and this led, ultimately, to my works in the Contemporary Landscape series.  I have also experimented with mixed media and collage and most recently I have taken up oil paints, which I used earlier in my life, and pastels, which were totally new to me.  I still have much to learn and explore – I just hope I have time!