I am thirty-seven years old and reside at the Southeastern Tennessee State Regional Correctional Facility. I have had no formal training in art. Like most, I began drawing small designs on envelopes in county jail nearly seventeen years ago. A year later, while trying to adjust to prison life, I was fortunate enough to know I had to find some form of vocation to offset the financial disparity that comes with a lengthy prison sentence and find something that was personally rewarding; something I could excel at while contributing to the world around me.

 I only did portraits until about four years ago when I tried my hand at “fine art.” I am continually reading books on how to improve my art and one of my latest paintings, Afternoon Meal, won a juried trial and, as a result, was displayed in the McGhee Tyson Airport. Two of my most recent paintings sold almost immediately after being viewed, Summer Stroll and Apples. Four of my paintings were accepted for display by the Upstream People Gallery and one of my paintings was chosen for the Top 40 Exhibition Show in Knoxville, Tennessee. My pastel painting, Trolley in the City, won first prize in the medium category at the Annual Tennessee Art League Juried Member’s Exhibition. The same painting was accepted into the Mountain Visions 2010 Regional Juried Exhibition. I am a member of the TAL Gallery in Nashville and the Knoxville Art & Culture Alliance.