I was raised in Vancouver. As a child I was exposed to the works of
Native carvers and saw the paintings of Carr, Harris and others at the
Vancouver Art Gallery. Living by the ocean gave me an appreciation
for natural rhythms and the beauty of the land. Being exposed to and
inspired by artists' works at an early age made the act of painting
integral to my life.

In 1957 at the age of ten, I moved with my family by train to Ottawa,
on board 'The Canadian'. The countryside between the B.C. coast and
the Ottawa Valley slowly revealed itself.
The train cars, their interiors decorated with landscape murals, reinforced my association between painting and the landscape.

Painting landscape became my means of expressing the tremendous
forces and tremendous beauty around us.

My method is to walk through an area and sketch it. Whenever possible I paint on site. I rely on my feelings of place to connect me with my subject matter so that the paintings come out of my experience. 
When the time comes to return to the studio, I do so with small oil
canvases and sketch books filled, to be used as references for larger
studio pieces: then I paint like crazy!