A native Oregonian, born and raised in Portland, he demonstrated an extraordinary gift for perception and visual expression from the time he could grasp a crayon. Winning top awards in competitions as varied as county fairs to the regional and national Scholastic Art Awards helped solidify a future in the realm of visual expression.

At age twenty five he left his position as designer of specialty automotive accessories for a small manufacturing firm in Portland to pursue painting full time. Fifteen years later and after a decade of acceptance into juried exhibitions at the Portland Art Museum, the American Artists Professional League; Allied Artists of America; and the Salmagundi Club, he was invited to full membership in Allied Artists of America. Twenty years later he is still a member plus he holds Signature Membership in Oil Painters of America and Past member of the Copely Society.