I spent my childhood in the mountains of West Virginia as the son of a coal miner. The wind in the valleys, the winding creeks from the melting snow of the Appalachian Mountains, the viridescent summer hillsides, and the snow that sparkled in the moonlight are embedded in my memory. It was an endless corridor of beauty. Oregon is now my home - an apt surrogate for my destiny where I quietly settled down among those majestic mountains of Oregon and painted and wrote my novels and my book of poetry. Kent State University and the University of Oregon placed Vindauga: The Secret Window, my book of poetry, and my autobiographical novel, Shadow to Light, in Special Collections and Archives. The Writings section offers concise summaries of the poetry and novels. Much of my inspiration for writing and painting came when I explored the heart of Oregon. I hiked through the three sisters and went 10,000 feet to the top of South Sisters. I could see the state laid out before me. I have camped at Silver Falls State Park and Scott Lake, climbed to the top of Mt. Jefferson, and trudged through the snow, peering down its breathtaking deep crevasses. I have only scratched the surface of my adventures in Oregon and its inspiration in my writings and paintings. Its lush, verdant landscapes and sweeping skies provide a pictorial language - a palate of color for a brush. I was also determined to become an artist after seeing the paintings of French painter Odilon Redon at the Guggenheim when I was twenty-two. I created my unique approach to painting using acrylic and an ordinary house painter’s corner brush. I became a professional artist and completed nearly five hundred paintings. They are widely illustrated in local galleries and office buildings, nationally in Fine Art America, and internationally in prestigious internet-juried exhibitions. My paintings have been placed in a distinguished internet art magazine.