Beginnings

I began painting as a child. If you have modeled clay or "painted-by-the-numbers" then you should know what this is about. In my early teens, I completed my first oil painting. Within weeks, I had received an unsolicited offer to purchase that first painting. Can you imagine? The would-be buyer was full of praise for this, my first work. So much so, I was compelled to confess that I had copied a painting that had graced the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine. It was not my original. Immediately, the buyer reduced her offer by two-thirds. Well... the second offer I declined and the piece remained with me. Since then, it has vanished like so many other things and people. Nonetheless, some value was gained. I learned two things: that my paintings might sell and that originality is more valuable than imitation, by at least 200 per cent. Today, I use computer graphics programs to produce nearly all of my images.