I am a retired veteran of 26 years with multiple combat deployments.  After I retired I turned to art as a form of therapy for my PTSD and injuries.  While I enjoy most forms of art, I have settled into Photography, Digital art, and Painting as my primary mediums.  

I received my BFA in Applied Design and Visual Communications from Houghton College and am completing my MFA in Fine Art and Arts Administration at the Visual Studies Workshop this spring.

I enjoy photographing nature, particularly waterfalls, and abandoned things.  Waterfalls have always held a fascination for me.  I find them peaceful and calming and have incorporated waterfall hunting into my own form of therapy.  Getting out into nature is a proven way to reconnect with one's inner self and provides an oft needed boost of serotonin.  

Photographing the abandoned is a way for me to connect with my own feelings of abandonment and the decay of my mental and physical health.  It is a way to show that even though something (or someone) is broken and thrown away, it can be reworked into something beautiful.

Art has become a lifeline for me and a way to communicate with the world at large.  What might take a lifetime to explain can be voiced in a single image.  The darkness that roils around in my mind can be pulled out, put on a "canvas", and dealt with in a healthy way; providing understanding of self and, ultimately, healing.