Biography

 I was blessed to discover my passion, talent, interest and ability early in my life. I knew what my vocation would be before finishing High School. I attribute this to an early gravitation towards creativity, encouraged by a few standout educators in my life, combined with personal observation and bias as to what is and isn’t important in building a fulfilling life. These things helped determine my direction and set my foot firmly on the path I’ve followed. The element of understanding the why of it all has steadily progressed as I’ve walked along this chosen path to where I am today.

Artist: Visual artist since 1976 and a digital artist since 2010.

Photographer: Formal Military training as a combat photographer and entrepreneurial professional creator of photographic images since 1976. Studio owner since 1992. Nation wide photographic skills educator and event photographer 2004-2012.

Writer: Editorial, opinion and educational writer since 2010.

Our experiences in life define who we are, what we believe, who we become and why. Everything is perceived through the unique eyes and experiences that belong to the individual. Yet it’s when the individual broadens their unique horizon to comprehend and accept the uniqueness of others around them that they begin to better understand their purpose at a deeper level. In simplest terms it’s not about me but rather about we.

I believe the discovery of a meaningful and fulfilling mission in life begins with curiosity and intention, both of which should be of one’s personal choosing. Curiosity and intention then form the basis for creating a unique plan for personal success. As we fine tune our curiosity, passion, abilities and talent our mission begins to emerge from the haze of experience and perception and comes in to sharper focus. As these things become clearer to us we must then decide what this clarity of experience, perception and belief means and how we will focus it. This is the easy part.

Understanding the reasons and the destinations we choose in life is easy. It’s seeking to know from where the initial seed of ambition is derived which can be illusive. Most definitely some have been given a bigger seed than others. These are the mentors, stars and heroes that populate our lives and often fuel our ambitions. Yet this isn’t so important as growing our own ambition. We are all unique. We all have purpose. What we often lack is the needed belief in ourselves in order to reach our most ambitious goals. I refer to these ambitious goals as our own personal “Smile”.

This is why, when I’m asked what I do for a living, I say; “I help people find their Smile” I sincerely hope I am blessed with the task of helping you find yours.