I was raised in rural New Hampshire, where I was surrounded by nature's art everyday in the form of the mountains, the ocean, and the landscape. I joined the Navy at age 21 and served as a Hospital Corpsman during the Gulf war in 1991-1994. After my service, I went back to school on the GI Bill and completed my degree in Art Education. Much of my work is inspired by my hometown, everyday life, and images of the military in action. A glass artist and painter, I began my journey into kiln formed glass while working at the Boys and Girls clubs of America and as a teacher at Toledo School for the Art before I began my daily painting quest in 2010. For the past several years I have been "marrying" my skills in glass with my painting style. While my work is still evolving, I continue to explore and develop skills and find my own voice. I have been blessed to study with the following artists, who have all impacted my style in different ways: Silvia Levenson, Catharine Newell, Jiyong Lee, Kelly Alge, Carla Bosch, Becky Joy, Qiang Huong, Carol Marine, Kyle Martin, Dreama Tolle Perry, Monica Edgerton Sperry, George Hughes, Mary-Jane Erard, and Peggy Kroll Roberts. I have made incredible lifelong friends on my journey and I hope our paths cross in the real world someday!