For the first 58 years of my life John had no clue that he had artistic talent.  He always knew that he liked art and design and was fascinated by many artists and their work.  On his 58^thbirthday his better half, Nancy, said she had an idea to help relax from the stresses of running a business. When John got home from work that day she said "I am taking you for your gift", and, to John's surprise, they ended up at an art store. She said “Buy whatever you need to start drawing,” and John did. Now is where the fun begins.

John never had lessons and never knew how to draw from life. His only frame of reference was photographs, so he decided to work from a photo that he found on the internet. Low and behold John started to draw.  For the next 10 months John drew and drew and drew images from the internet. In January, 2007, John and Nancy were on vacation in The Bahamas. While there they went to Harbor Island for a day trip. That day changed his art life forever. John met Mr. Herman Higs, a fishing guide. He was very willing and very excited to be photographed. When John got home, he went through the images and started to do his portrait. While working on it John realized that he really loved to draw portraits.

John started going everywhere with his camera in search of his "next subject". He began to photograph people that he would meet on the streets of New York City. This fascination with “Street People” was not just artistic. John started to realize that these people were very interesting and all had stories. John has seen a few of these subjects after finishing their portraits, and was so touched by their reactions to his work. People just want to be treated equally and with respect.