That really has been my story since I was in the sixth grade when I won an essay contest that was presented by a Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. I began studying art in the eighth grade at the William E. Gebhardt School of Art along with my friend Bob Hebenstreit. At Hughes High School, I wrote for the newspaper, was editor of our annual and drew cartoon figures I called “umbilicals” because they all had belly buttons. At UC, as a pre-med student, I was editor of the university’s yearbook and worked as assistant sports information director for the Bearcat Athletic Department where I fed stories about our athletes to local and national sports reporters while the football team won the conference and the basketball team just missed winning its third-straight NCAA title. Those were good days.
After graduating, I became a full-time sports reporter before turning to promotional writing that led eventually to a life-long career as a marketing strategist. For 20 years, I was president of one of America’s 50 largest promotional marketing agencies serving some of the biggest brands in the country. I volunteered as marketing director for United Way for 7 years and was named one of their Top 100 All-Time Volunteers and led marketing for 4 years for the Cincinnati Art Fund.
Along the way, I studied art with Robert Fabe, Kim English, Carin Hebenstreit, Ken Landon Buck, Tom Bluemlein and Richard Luschek. I write or paint nearly every day with my work published in national art magazines and hanging on the walls of many homes. I am a member of the Cincinnati Art Club where I serve as Communications Chair which includes being editor of the Club’s Dragonfly newsletter and our new Imagine magazine, plus Club branding, publicity, and social media.
My wife and I have two daughters, two sons-in-law, and five grandchildren. They are our passion. I attend Hope Church in Mason, OH.
I cannot wait until this pandemic is over.
Story Telling Artist 