<p>I am a Southern California native who first encountered the Pacific Ocean as a child growing up in San Diego in the early 1960's. I have been in and around salt-water ever since, including three years on Oahu while I was in elementary school. I graduated from UCSD in 1981 with a degree in English Lit, but also earned just enough Visual Arts credits to eventually supplement my public high school teaching credential so that I was fortunate enough to spend the second half of my 32-year career teaching Art full-time. My painting mentors include John Comer and Jeff Yeomans. I am a former member of the La Jolla Art Association and, since my retirement from teaching in 2018, I paint plein air regularly between the Children's Pool and the Cove. Finally, I am also the author of a novel set in the Mojave Desert titled Natives in Exile, as well as Semper Aloha, a memoir about growing up in a military family during the Vietnam War.</p>