Welcome to my website.  I paint realistic watercolor pet portraits or other rural scenes from your photographs (or mine).  I hope you enjoy your visit.

     I was born and raised on a small family farm in rural Watauga County, North Carolina.  Growing up on a farm with daily chores, hard work, and many animals taught me to appreciate the "country way of life".  Life was hard (or so I thought at the time), but now that I'm grown and live much closer to town, I really miss those days where after a hard day in the "baccer" patch, I could sit on the porch, look at the stars, listen to the crickets, and never hear a car or see a street light.

     I have always loved art, and began drawing on the backs of envelopes and every scrap of paper I could find ever since I was big enough to hold a pencil.  I am primarily self-taught, but I did go to Appalachian State University and graduate magna cum laude with a BS in Art Education with K-12 teacher certification in 1991. 

     I now work as the Workshop Coordinator at Cheap Joe's Art Stuff (a worldwide known art supply company), but paint pet portraits and other commissions in my spare time.  I enjoy painting the things I love:  animals, rural america, and memories of the simpler times in life.

     Prices typically average between $250 and $500, depending on size and difficulty of the painting.  For example, just a head pose of an animal with no background would be less expensive than a painting with 2 or more animals or with a complicated or detailed background.  Contact me for an estimate of your custom painting.

     It is very important to submit good quality, CLEAR photographs for me to work from.  I can combine the background of one, and the pose of another if need be, but it is VERY important that the color and expression or pose be accurate to what you want painted.  Your photos will be returned unharmed with the completed painting.

     All paintings are matted and ready to frame.  There will be an additional charge if you would like for me to frame the painting. 

      You may email, drop off, or mail photos to me, but I prefer that you make arrangements to pick up the finished painting.  Shipping can be arranged for an extra fee, but should it get damaged en route, a one of a kind original is impossible to replace.

Please be sure to visit my "Pet Gallery" and "More Pets" page, as well as my "Other Stuff" page.  These are just a few examples of my work.  The Pet Portraits were commissions for the "Pet's Parents", and are now in their collection.  I also have 11"x14" giclee prints available of "Sutherland and the Peak" for $60 (shipping incl.)  This is the painting with Sutherland Methodist Church and "The Peak" mountain in the background.  This scene is located in rural Ashe Co., NC.