About the Artist

I was the 3rd grader who loved to draw—and was good at it.  My classmates and teachers heaped praise on me over the sketches I drew (trees, horses, dogs and the like).  Art awards soon followed, and by my senior year in high school I had taken Grand Prize in a juried exhibition in Roswell, New Mexico, led by acclaimed artists Georgia O'Keefe and Peter Hurd. 

                               Untitled  (Audie's Painting of Longhorn Skull at age 16)

Following high school I enthusiastically enrolled in a commercial arts program at City College of San Francisco. It, however, quickly became evident that I would have to endure years of commercial art apprenticeship before getting the chance to fully demonstrating my own creativity.  So my impatience took over and I returned to the southwest to pursue a traditional fine arts program at the University of New Mexico. But, my best intentions were interrupted...

A Shift in Plans

Back in New Mexico, a new wife and a baby son forced me to alter my college art studies. I switched majors to business as a way to generate a steady paycheck.  As the years progressed my artistic pursuits became an on-again/off-again endeavor while my corporate business career led me to experience the exciting journey of working on the Apollo space program at Cape Canaveral, and then on to various senior leadership positions with Xerox, Federated Department Stores, Wilson Learning Corporation; and eventually to my own international training & development company as business owner and management consultant. 

   Extending Our Reach (Painting of Apollo Launch at Cape Canaveral)

Keeping My Art Alive

During my corporate executive career I somehow found the time to continue painting and cultivating the expressive style which first emerged during my college years.  I was able to sell a number of paintings throughout that period.  However, one of the things that kept me from pursuing an art career full-time was my self-critical eye. While I always believed that my work was promising, I did not accept deep-down that I was yet good enough for "prime time" for a very long time. While this held me back, it also kept me committed to learning, experimenting, and improving my artistic skills as time permitted.

Getting Back Into the Professional Art Game

When I finally decided to leave the corporate world and concentrate solely on my art, everything changed. I was able to gain more and more confidence in myself as an artist and the works I was creating.  Most importantly, I began to trust my affinity for ambiguity, uncertainty, and change, along with my willingness to take chances offered by immediate circumstances.  I persevered and continued expressing myself on the canvas, thinking "good things will happen".  Full Moon Over Hawaii is a modest example. As I played around with this painting, I instinctually inserted circular shapes into the painting and an image of a rising moon over a volcano came to me. This triggered thoughts of a trip my wife and I had taken to the Big Island of Hawaii, which in turn, inspired the vision for how I wanted to communicate this rugged but beautiful landscape in the middle of the Pacific.  Here is the finished result:

                      Full Moon Over Hawaii Island

Eventually this approach to how I paint settled in and became an integral part of who I am as an artist. It has enabled me to become a full-time professional artist who utilizes bold colors, shapes, and loose expressionistic strokes to create paintings which captivate and uplift those who view and collect them.

Looking Toward the Future

I've been thinking recently about the role art plays in society, especially the idea of buying and collecting art.  When someone buys art, they are buying more than just an object. They are buying hundreds of hours of work, rework and experimentation. They are buying the outcome of days, weeks, and even months of frustration, as well as, key moments of inspiration and pure joy for themselves.  And most importantly, they are providing the artist more time to do what she or he is most passionate about.

I believe creating art is much like composing music. It comes from deep inside.  Everyone forms intimate connections in one way or another.  Art, like music, is one of those core elements of life that vibrates our emotions—bringing together our past experiences, our collected present, and our hopes for the future.  I believe that buying and collecting art helps lift one's one life experience and brings contentment to his or her soul.  This is the dream I continue to have for all those who collect my art.

                                                 Aspens Galore (in Private Collector's Great Room outside Denver, Colorado)