I started school in a two-room schoolhouse with a bell on top above Coal Hollow where one man, a mule, and a cart made a living in a backyard coal mine. At ten I was chosen to take art classes at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. My dad would make me up at 5:45 and he would drive me into the city on his way to work. I would have hot chocolate at the White Tower in Oakland and then stand in line at 8:30 for the doors of the museum to open. After classes I would take a streetcar to my grandmother’s house where I would be given home-baked bread or cookies. Then I would take two buses that left me off two miles from my house. I would walk home from there. Later, I quit art classes to play baseball, then took up art again, joined the army, took up art again, received some notice, made paintings and continue to enjoy the act of making paintings. I have taught at Carnegie Mellon, the University of Cincinnati, UCLA, USC, and Otis Parsons before coming to UB. I have exhibited nationally and internationally, received two Fulbright Fellowships, and a NYFA fellowship. Major exhibitions include The Carnegie International and Directions at the Hirshhorn Museum.