Connect What is your favorite type of art to create?

Abstract expressionism/impressionism. I grew up doing pinstriping for my father who restored vintage cars. I enjoyed it, and as I got better at it, I even made a few bucks. But I wanted to do more than paint lines on hoods, fenders, gas tanks, etc. I wanted to create larger works. Things that folks might not want painted on their car. I started doodling, moving more into abstract images of colors and forms. Not realism, but true abstract. Lines that morph into images. That's my "Happy Place."

Where do you find inspiration?

From shapes and forms. Shadows, clouds, trees, grass, a row of bricks, you name it. The term pareidolia comes to mind. When I look at something, I might not see a specific image like a teddy bear or elephant. However, I do see the means, the basic elements necessary to create the image in my mind and then transfer it to my art. Whatever that might be.

What would you do with $25,000?

My wife and I live in Winfield, which is a small town in Kansas. We moved here from Phoenix in 2018 to be closer to her family. A couple of years later, the town's Arts and Humanities Council exhibited my works. The following year, I won first place with one of my "doodle" paintings and an exhibit at the local gallery. $25,000 would pay a few bills, buy art supplies, and would help the Arts and Humanities Council as well as our local gallery of which I am now a member artist.