Our Cat: We were His and He was Ours (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781987651492)

I was born in 1960 and raised in the northwest corner of Rhode Island in a small village called Pascoag, where there are woods and fields and nice folks; and my mom's painting. I graduated from Burrillville High School in 1978. I went to Rhode Island College uncertain about the direction my life would take, but sure that I needed to draw and paint. At the end of my third year I left college and immersed myself in a two year volunteer program working with adolescent youth. After two wonderful years I romped across the country for three months, and returned to college to graduate in 1986 with a degree in History. After graduating I spent four years in New Hampshire working in group homes, factories, and at a college; and going every possible weekend to hike and draw in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. My art became a tool that enabled me to express myself, and a vehicle through which the people I worked with could tell me about themselves. In 1990, I was accepted as a candidate to seminary in Emmitsburg Md., where I found a long sought after well-spring of self-reflection. I completed the program but did not feel drawn to ordination. I returned to RI, working at Providence College in the residence halls and filled my hours with the residents, with drawing and with volunteer work. I left the college to become the director of volunteers at a local suicide hotline where my hours coordinating and manning the phones was complimented by hours of doodling and drawing. In 1998, I had a two month adventure in Africa working at an ostrich farm, and returned to have my first art show at the Grey Gallery in Woonsocket, RI. In fact, I was their first show. It was small, but it stretched my abilities, and made me realize that through all the events of my life there have been two constants: my family and my drawing. Since 2000, with an eye for a steady income, I found employment with a company that maintains real estate properties. I have made time to hike the 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail in two long stints. I have created a reasonable portfolio that describes the breadth of my artistic abilities. And I have become a professional member of the Charlotte Art League in Charlotte, NC. I continue to work full time for a large company and spend hours in the studio of my home. I want to be a full time artist and illustrator and am always looking for opportunities to show my work. Self-publishing is another outlet. And the possibilities seem endless.