Eric Liddell, the great Scottish runner portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire, said that God had given him the ability to run fast, so that when he ran he felt His pleasure. I believe God gives everyone gifts, some quite special, and it pleases Him when we recognize our gifts, and exercise and develop them to the best of our ability. My gift is to represent the beauty of God’s creation with paint, brush, and canvas. I certainly am not to the world of art what Eric Liddell was to the world of running, but I believe God is pleased when I paint, especially when I am mindful that I am worshipping him in the process.

When I was a child, I amused myself drawing pictures. I excelled in art, and was the kid that was chosen to make posters, decorate blackboards, and make stage scenery. I presumed that I would become an architect. In high school, I discovered I would be required to earn a degree in civil engineering before being admitted to architecture school. My difficulty with math clearly meant that a career in architecture was not for me. It didn’t appear likely that a career in fine art was practical, and so I graduated with an AB degree in economics from Bucknell University in 1959, and looked around for what I should do with the rest of my life.

Soon after I began a career in life insurance which morphed into financial and estate planning, and I enjoyed a successful career, and a wonderful marriage and family life, all of which absorbed all of my time. It was not until I began to think about what I would do with my time if I were to retire, that I decided it was time to discover if I still had the natural talent to paint. An introduction to oil painting class at the El Paso Museum of Art revived the latent talent, and I was convinced I could indeed become an artist. And so I started painting landscapes, mostly by trial and error. Fortunately I became acquainted with Aleksander Titovets, the well-known Russian Impressionist, who lives in El Paso. He looked at my crude beginning work, and thought I had enough potential to invite me to join his class of experienced artists. I promised to work hard and be teachable, and thus my career in art began.