I am a self-taught artist who first began drawing when I was old enough to hold a crayon. By the later school grades and into junior High School, my artwork consisted primarily of graphite pencil sketching which I very much enjoyed. However, I wished to add colour to my art as well as start using materials which I perceived, at the time, to be more permanent than pencil on paper. I was not yet 14 years old when I decided to take up the paint brush and start oil painting, which I enjoyed even more than pencil sketching. The first gallery I joined was the Echo Diffusart Gallery, in the Byward Market Building in downtown Ottawa, where I sold artwork, maybe 2 or 3 pieces per year, between 1991 and late 1997, shortly after David, my first child, was born, and the Byward Market Building was closed for renovations. With fatherhood taking up more of my time, I did not seek to return to Echo Diffusart, but chose a quieter venue, closer to home. I exhibited and sold artwork through the Artrise Gallery in Stittsville from 1998 until 2001. My daughter, Alyssa, was born in 2000, so my role as a father took up even more of my time. Between 2001 and October 2003, I was no longer doing enough artwork to be exhibiting, but did a few commissioned artworks. In October, 2003, my twin daughters, Kaylie and Jenna, were born and I took a hiatus from artwork altogether for the next 8 years. By 2011, I started to paint again and in 2012, I joined the Ottawa West Arts Association, where I am a member today. More recently, I have become a member at Art Lending of Ottawa , the Kanata Civic Gallery and the Richmond Village Art Club.