The natural world has always been my wellspring of inspiration. Memories of exploring the forests of my youth can still flood my senses with the sounds and smells of those wild places on the edge of suburbia. Like many of us however, traveling down the intersecting avenues and returning to the comfort of my home every night, the wild remained very much “other worldly." As a young man, a longing for a deeper connection with nature later took me, through job experiences and personal trips, to many remote areas of B.C. and Manitoba. These years just before, during and after art school, were ones of soul searching and of gathering experience along the path to finding my voice as an artist.