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Biography

I can’t remember when art and photography wasn’t an important part of my life. 

The Learning Experience

It seems that a crayon, pencil, paintbrush, or camera was always there. I graduated from the Webster Groves School District. I went to Meramec Community College for two years before going to the University of Missouri, Columbia for my B.S. in Secondary Art Education. Soon after graduating I was hired by the Pattonville School District where I taught Jr. High/ Middle School Art for 29 years. During that time I earned my MAT + 30 at Webster University. After I retired I discovered a new tool in Adobe PhotoshopDiscovering Photoshop at Meramec Community College which opened a whole new media which now includes Adobe Illustrator and Corel Painter as my tools to do art.  There’s always something new to discover and apply to my photos and art.  It’s great to find something that helps you become even more enthusiastic about what you do.  I figure that life is a continuous learning process.

I've travel quite a bit, taking in the cities, landscapes and culture of the places I've visisted. Most recently I've visitied the Adriatic which included Venice, Italy; Olympia, Greece; Ephasus and Istanbul, Turkey; and Dubrovnik, Croatia. I just got back from my first visit to Hawaii which was spectacular. I've always enjoyed visiting new places.

I've been showing my work in various group shows and one-person shows around Missouri and the U.S. as well as in France. In 2006 my photograph, " 66 Auto Court" was chosen by the Missouri Arts Council to grace their poster for the Missouri Arts Council Awards. It was a great honor. You may be able to still get a copy of it through the MAC. I have won other awards for my photography as well.

Influences

My grandmother, Myrtle Goyer, was my first and continuous influence from the time I was born until the time she died at 96 1/2.  She taught me to look at the world, not just glance at it.  She also worked with me on my hand/eye co-ordination to make it all work.
My art and photography has her influence as well as some of the early stars of photography and art, i.e. - Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Dorthea Lange, Georgia O’Keefe, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and many others.  I try to get a good composition in my images with good light and interesting textures.  Doing an image to my liking is visceral as well as visual. I've been going with a lovely man, Steve Schackman, for quite a while. He owns his business which is restoring antique Harley and Henderson motorcycles.