I'm basically an Iowa farmboy who became an artist. After being born in Burlington, I lived on a farm South of New London, Iowa for seven years as a child until we moved into town. At age 13 I was hired by the New London Farmers Co-op to shovel coal and grain.  When I turned 18, I got my Commercial Driving License and hauled grain to the Mississippi River and later hauling feed to farms. While working at the Co-op and after High School, I graduated from Southeast Iowa Community College and attended Iowa Wesleyan. I wanted to be an artist but was unsure how to make  career of it, so studied business, math and accounting. My employer suggested I attend the Hawkeye Institute of Technology in Waterloo and study Commercial Art, which I did along with joining the Vocational Industrial  Club of America and won a gold medal in the state Skill Olympics, (Commercial Art Division). I went on to the National Competition and received a silver medal. Upon graduation I received the Outstanding Student award and was hired by an ad agency/art studio in Waterloo. Eventually I became part of the Illustration Department and created thousands of illustrations for hundreds of national clients over a period of twenty plus years. During that time my work was recognized by The Society of Illustrators, Airbrush Action and others. That all ended on New Year's Eve of 1995 when I was hospitalized with a major illness. After coming out of a coma, I spent most of 1996 in rehabilitation at another hospital.I wasn't able to perform my previous job, but with the help of insurance and Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation am still able to create artwork.