I left New Mexico’s Land of Enchantment for the Lake Life in Wisconsin.  Summer 2014 will forever be the most memorable for all the blessings I received. A new mortgage free home thanks to the Military Warriors Support Foundation (MWSF) tops the list for the life altering gifts. What I thought was too good to be true was real and my gratitude towards the MWSF is never ending. 
     The new home includes a basement gallery and art studio. I feel like it was custom made for me and my work. The summer projects are a culmination of works dedicated to making the house a livable space with personalized decorum.
     A free dresser found on a curb side was the first project. As ugly as it was I begrudgingly loaded it up and took it away. My mom said to paint it, so I took her advise.  She thought a solid color would work but I had other plans.  With 5 drawers, the top, and two sides turned into 8 separate paintings. I enjoyed each step making the lake scenes come to life.
     The next big canvass was started in my living room, inspired by a painting at Benelux restaurant in Milwaukee. I tweaked the scene to include the rolling country roads that dominate the corn field and silo filled  landscape of my new home. 
     The official key presentation for the Delavan house was in front of 80,000 Badger fans in Madison Wisconsin.  There were interviews on the field and at the home.  The art studio was transformed into a TV Production studio. I filled the walls with work from the past 25 years.  To include a few new oils.
     I look forward to many years of painting the days and nights away in my own little Wisconsin piece of heaven.

Enjoy!!!

    

     Hello from Taos, the land of my birth. I have been living the last six months in a 300 square foot cabin in the mountain’s of New Mexico, ten miles north of Taos. The quaint valley is called San Cristobal made famous by author’s, D. H. Lawrence and Aldous Huxley. I live in the same cabin that Huxley occupied. 
     The experience has been nothing short of life changing. The cabin was sufficient for a creative hub and studio sans telephone distractions. The 360 degree mountain views at the base of Lobo Peak proved to be most inspiring and the artist community of Taos welcomed me in as long as I refrained from discussion concerning my military service…
    I reconnected with my ski coaching past and the physical outlet proved beneficial for socializing and non isolationist tendencies.  I really enjoyed working with the young athletes and fellow race coaches while skiing the challenging Taos Terrain.
     Painting in this remote landscape was the greatest joy for I overcame my frequent flashbacks of war in this Afghan like terrain.   Settling into the high desert and visiting the O’Keeffe images gave rise to my purpose for painting.  With a lust for capturing a particular feeling my journey encompasses a new vocabulary of self expression.
     It has been 32 years since I left New Mexico at age eight. These few months has proven to be a welcoming home coming to the stations of my past, long lost relatives, and family friends. I feel we have a landscape ingrained into our psyche that will always be our home, it’s a comfortable sensation where everything is the way you expect it to be. Coming back to the core enables us to forge new pathways overcoming obstacles flowing around the dams that life has placed in our way.