The birmingham studio was one of my favorite. It felt like a cabin upstairs with the knotty pine and bugalo style. I really enjoyed having a dedicated space for the first time that I didn't share with the living area or clean up for visitors. The old card table in the back was such a great spread for all my paints.

Laguna Beach was inspirational and still is for me today. I lived above the garage in a beautiful studio with 180-degree view of the ocean one block up from PCH. I didn't have a phone and filled time with long walks, the ocean, wine and painting. I would say I did the most works there before settling into our house in Aliso Viejo 10 years later.

Living in Portland a couple years prior, brought me close to my best friend from college, Cory, when we both attended San Diego State University. He started a small company called ITR Enterprises in 1991 which grew to one of the first hemp companies in Seattle. As you can imagine, the environmental movement was in full swing in the early '90s and Cory was ahead of the curve with the Fremont Hemp Co. I wanted to be part of it with him.

Moving back to Michigan after living in the pacific northwest was an adjustment. The northwest has mountains, rivers and the ocean while Michigan is pretty much flat. Beautiful with lakes but flat. I found myself taking drives for hours just to take looks off in the distance from a hilltop which gave me a sense of space.

While the geography might not have been inspirational, the environment was. I rented a studio in downtown Royal Oak, an up and coming, artsy and trendy city. The building was an old hotel built in 1923 around sixth and main. My room was no bigger than 8'x10' but afforded me a place to work with walks into town to the local coffee houses, bars and restaurants. An Oatmeal Stout with Nirvana and Spin Doctors on the boom box filled many a day.

The two pictures you see here are pretty much was started it all. The first painting of castles on the hillside I gave to my sister. The drawing, framed in Laguna Beach several years later, still hangs in my house today.

This small one bedroom cottage I rented in 1993 was where I decided to try my hand at drawing and becoming an artist. My landlord was a glass artist and did the renovation on this house while living across the street in his home. We hung out quite a bit over beers while his wife and kids were away.