“I remember how nervous I was that first day of school. I was six years old, had just moved into the community and started to school right away. Our teacher told us that our new textbooks had not yet arrived and we could draw and color all day. At the end of the day, she collected all of our artwork. The next morning when I entered the classroom, some of our drawings were displayed on the wall. A couple of mine were among them and from that moment on, I was hooked!”.

Gary took advantage of art instruction wherever and whenever possible. His father was employed at a local aerospace company and the company began offering art workshops to their employees and families. The courses were taught by professional artists employed by the company. “I think the art instruction I received back then helped form a solid foundation for me”. After graduating from high school, Gary made the decision to seek employment at that same company. “I had become very familiar with the company and the opportunities that were available. The company had a terrific apprenticeship program in illustration and the artists that had taught me in those early years encouraged me to enter the apprenticeship program when I graduated high school. I would work as an Illustrator during the day and attend art school in the evenings. I eventually left that company and obtained a position in advertising illustration." Through the years in commercial art, Gary continued to study and work hard at becoming a good painter. “Supporting my family in commercial art was very satisfying for me, and the skills I learned helped me with my painting, but there are differences in the approach and process. When I created art for an employer or client, the goal was to satisfy their requirements, but when I am in my studio working on a painting, my goal is to create a painting that has all the essential elements, but most of all captures the viewer's imagination”.  As a representational painter, Gary’s approach to painting begins with the belief that a painting can have all the necessary qualities that are essential to good art but fails if it is not interesting to the observer. “I want the person viewing my work to experience the art, not just look at it as a pretty picture. Art that stirs emotion is true art”! He was accepted into the prestigious Oil Painters of America organization several years ago. “OPA is a wonderful organization that promotes representational painters. The support and promotional events that they offer for their members has been a tremendous boost for painters like me”. In more recent years, Gary has been fortunate to receive art instruction from accomplished painters including Carrie Ballantyne, Fred Fellows, Martin Greele, Bruce Greene, Roy Andersen and Michael Poulsen. "These artists are so creative and I have learned so much from them. They are such great human beings too!" 

“Although I enjoy painting diverse subject matter, creating paintings that depict our American West are dominate almost all of my work now. It really goes back to my childhood. I grew up admiring all the movie cowboys, they were my heroes! Back then my  friends and I were always pretending to be out west somewhere. Painting the western lifestyle and landscapes are so exciting and fulfilling. I am a member of the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville Georgia. The museum has a huge collection of Western Art and I am so inspired when I visit. I always learn something new each time I go there and look at that wonderful world of art."