I grew up on a large farm in the Midwest. We took care of a lot of animals, and my favorites were the horses. I spent my younger years riding horseback with my brothers and sister. My first experience with art began at a very young age. I drew my siblings on scraps of paper. As I grew older, I drew the horses on our farm as well as many landscapes. Off and on throughout my entire life, I have either been working on drawings, paintings, crafts of all shapes and sizes, and wood works. But my favorite artistic activity is painting. I have travelled to many states in the US, and taken many photos. Sometimes, I will see a scene that I know will make a great painting someday, so I will snap a few photos of it and tuck it away on a sim card. In my creative practice I later return to these photographs and encounters to use in my art works. My process not always intentional. I do not have a preconceived notion of what the outcome of an art project will be. I am exploring to see what is possible and I am curious to discover what will happen. As I critique my progress, I take on the role of observer as well as creator, and I often leave a painting unfinished, to come back later and review it with a fresh perspective. This gives me a more objective look at the creation, and guides me to do my best work. So I sometimes have 4 or 5 paintings in my studio that are incomplete. The painting that I have provided to the Gallery was created specifically for this contest.