I received a BFA - Studio Art in 1987 from Texas Tech University. My major emphasis was in photography with a minor in painting. I also developed skills in drawing and ceramics. I attribute much of my interests and skills to the guidance and leadership of several highly creative faculty members, who constantly challenged students to think, learn, feel and see the world around us.

In the learning process, I gained a great deal of vision and inspiration from 20th century American and international photographers who captured striking images provoking thought and questions.  The works of Lewis Hine, Walker Evans, Paul Strand, Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eugene Atget, Robert Frank, and Edward Steichen have influenced my own perspective when working in photography. I have also found the different styles from painters Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandisky, Edward Hopper and David Hockney help me see colors, compositions and themes with a different eye.

As a whole, photography and painting have served as an important creative outlet for my artistic endeavors and have become an opportunity for personal self discovery, meditation and growth.