What First Sparked My Love for Creating Art?

My love for creating art began long before I ever considered myself an artist. As a child, I loved to doodle. I would take a pencil and simply start drawing—putting lines, shapes, people, and whatever captured my imagination onto paper. At the time, it was just something I enjoyed doing. I didn’t realize that those simple childhood doodles were the beginning of a lifelong journey with art.

As I grew older, that natural curiosity for drawing developed into a serious interest in painting. During high school, I was fortunate to have the guidance of my first important art mentor, Andrew Thoman. He helped me develop my artistic abilities and taught me to look at art in a more disciplined and thoughtful way. His influence gave me confidence and encouraged me to continue developing my own artistic voice.

Life then took me in an unexpected direction. I pursued another passion—baseball—and eventually had the opportunity to play in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system, playing second base. Baseball became an important part of my life, but an injury that ended my playing career ultimately changed my path.

What could have felt like the end of one dream became the beginning of another.

After my baseball injury, I returned my attention to art and was fortunate to study under another important mentor, Bert Carter, in California. Bert played a significant role in helping me grow as a painter. His guidance, experience, and encouragement helped me move beyond simply drawing what I saw and begin thinking more deeply about composition, color, light, atmosphere, and the emotion that a painting can create.

My travels also became an important source of inspiration. Experiencing different places, landscapes, people, architecture, coastlines, and cultures expanded the way I looked at the world. Every journey gave me something new to remember and something new to interpret through art.

Over the years, those experiences have found their way onto my canvases. My paintings are often inspired by places that create a strong emotional response—a beautiful beach, a dramatic sunset, palm trees moving in the breeze, reflections across the water, a sailboat on the horizon, or a quiet coastal moment that makes you stop and appreciate where you are.

Today, when I look back, I can see how all of these experiences are connected. The child who doodled with a pencil, the student learning from Andrew Thoman, the young baseball player whose injury changed his direction, the artist mentored by Bert Carter, and the traveler inspired by the world around him all became part of the artist I am today.

My art is therefore not just about paint on canvas. It is about a lifetime of experiences, lessons, mentors, places, memories, and moments of inspiration. Every painting gives me another opportunity to capture something I have seen, felt, remembered, or imagined—and share that experience with someone else.

For me, creating art has been a lifelong journey. It started with a simple doodle and continues today every time I pick up a brush and face a blank canvas.