I am an artist. I specialize in oil painting. I love thick, rich texture and screaming primary colors.

Sometimes I feel like a fraud and the white of the canvas mocks me.

Sometimes I feel like I have reinvented color and I challenge the white of the canvas.

I am self-taught. I had private lessons when I was very young and some college courses. I was always the kid who won the art contest. I tried to major in Art in college but, unfortunately, "art" and "college" did not mix well for me. I could not relate to the art of college professors and institutions.

I was born with a crayon in my hand and life is my coloring book. I like to take the mundane colors and shapes of reality and make them more interesting.

I am a lover of history. I have taken the old photos of my hometown and rendered paintings, using colors from that coloring book in my mind. History forms our lives — let's take that form and make our lives more interesting.

My accomplishments are modest. I have shown my work at the Artworks Gallery in Laurel, MS. My work is displayed at the Hotel Alice Antique Shop in Ellisville, MS. My paintings were showcased in the November/December edition of the new magazine, Mississippi Scene. I have just recently joined SMAA and am looking forward to the new opportunities that will be available to me.

I have a new passion — stained glass. I love the transparent beauty and texture of glass. I also love the brilliant color of glass; it teases that coloring book in my mind. What a new and wonderful way of reinventing reality — glass!