On the monthly paintouts, how do you decide what to paint? What draws your eye to a particular scene?

I like to arrive as early as possible to give myself at least a half hour to scope out the designated paintout area. I have a viewfinder, which I find very helpful in eliminating extraneous areas and enabling me to zero in on various formats. I look for good compositions, dramatic light and dark patterns, and an interesting focal point. If I have been to the location before, I have a good idea where I'm going so I don't waste time. My experience has shown me that I need at least two hours for a decent representation on a 9 x 12 board.

What colors are on your palette? Why?

I use a fairly limited palette of nine colors plus white: Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red Light, Permanent Madder Deep (a permanent substitute for Alizarin Crimson), Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, and Ivory Black. Some of these colors I have mixed together into tubes to form strings of colors in a value scales: a gray string (using Ivory Black and white) of values 8 to 2, a blue string (using cobalt blue and white) in values 8 to 2, a green string (using a complex formula Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, Red Madder Deep) in values 9 to 2, and a blue-violet string (using Ultramarine Blue and Permanent Madder Deep) in values 9 to 2. I also mix a pink in two values using Permanent Madder Deep, Cadmium Red, and White.

Laying out these four strings of colors in addition to my basic palette enables me to paint faster and more efficiently. Many of the colors in the landscape require repetitious color mixing, so by having some of these combinations already on my palette saves considerable time.

To answer the question "why," I use these colors because I can mix any other color and value with them. They are as pure color as I can buy. Occasionally I will try to omit one or the other, like Cadmium Orange, but then I know what lovely greens I can make with it and Phthalo Blue and Phthalo Green. It also makes a lovely gray when mixed with Ultramarine Blue and White.

What time of day are you most creative? Early morning? Afternoon? Early evening? Late at night? Which season do you feel most creative? Winter, Fall, Spring, Summer? Why?

Primarily, I am most creative when I am rested, which is usually in the morning. Seasons don't really make much difference, except I don't like February.

When I was a commercial artist, I was required to create "on demand" regardless of the weather or time of day or season. I came in to work and turned on the "create" button, and designed a brochure or began an illustration. It was great training because I learned that I could do that. I didn't have to wait for a special moment of inspiration. I guess I always run with my "create" button on low and I can turn it up when I need it.

Many inspirations come when I am driving the car, exercising, or doing some other activity unrelated to painting.

How do you feel about critiques? Feedback? Or do you prefer to problem solve on your own? What are the three most important things you look for when critiquing a painting? Why?

I like critiques because I think extra sets of eyes see things that I don't always see. I use a mirror to check my own work, but I still don't always see everything. The three most important things I look for when critiquing paintings, mine or someone else's, are composition (the basic foundation of any painting), good drawing, and good values. Other things that I look for are a variety of soft and hard edges, correct emphasis, pattern of eye movement, effective entrance into the painting and if everything make sense.

Do you have a personal website? Did you design it? Do you maintain it? If yes, how has that helped you market your art?

When WSLP started its website, I was president of the organization. I worked with the webmaster and the technology fascinated me. I ultimately took a course in HTML at the nearby community college, never thinking I'd ever use it for myself. But I realized I needed my own website when I authored a book and would be getting national attention. I followed the WSLP style using the HTML and I designed my own site.

I am able to maintain it easily and of course, at no cost. It ranks up there with one of the smartest things I have done. Several important contacts were made via my website: a gallery in Cape Cod found me that now represents my work, my painting "Morning at Church Circle" was featured on the cover of the 2006 edition of Exclusively Greater Annapolis, and I have made several sales because the customer found my website.

What areas do you find especially helpful or rewarding in your art career? Do you give teach? Give workshops? Own a gallery? Author a book? Lecture? Participate in competitions (either as a painter or judge)? Describe your experiences.

I began teaching still life and landscape painting when I quit "my day job" nearly 25 years ago. It evolved into teaching plein air landscape painting workshops, which I did for seven years. Altogether, I taught for 23 years.

The honor of having many paintings in the Top 100 Arts for the Parks brought my paintings to the attention of North Light Books. They selected two of my park paintings to appear in their book "Art from the Parks." From that publication, I accepted a contract to write a book on landscape painting, "Fourteen Formulas for Painting Fabulous Landscapes." I believe that my teaching experience was invaluable in my being able to write an effective instruction book.

The book has brought me much national and international attention. Though I no longer teach, I am often asked to judge shows and give talks to various art groups in the area. I feel fulfilled as an artist, teacher and author by sharing what I have learned over the years, to help aspiring painters to improve upon their work.

Who or what got you interested in plein air painting?

Along with still lifes and portraits, I had been painting landscapes for some years, always from photographs in the studio. I didn't have a clue how to go outside and tackle a scene…and I didn't know anyone that did.

Most teachers will tell you that they learn from their students. It was they who wanted to learn landscape painting, and were frustrated by the limitations of working from photos in the studio. So I began to teach plein air, and realized the potential of painting on site. After all, photographs do lie.

One particular student joined me to paint on location several times, and ultimately she hosted my workshops at her summer home in Western Pennsylvania. We still paint there at least once a year.

In light of the current world climate, what do you feel is the role of the artist? (For instance, do landscape painters have a responsibility to record nature before it's developed?

I feel that the role of the artist, any artist, is to inspire people to appreciate beauty and to evoke reactions that facilitate a better understanding of their world. The landscape painter will find many kinds of beauty, for instance in the light and shadows on a rooftop or the patterns of flags adorning front porches in an urban setting. But other landscape painters will feel obligated to capture the landscape in a pristine state, so that future generations will be able to appreciate the beauty of the land.

The artist must seek "their truth" and be honest with him/herself.

When did you first want to become an artist? (And when did you realize you were one?) Did you draw or paint as a child? What were your subjects?

I have always drawn and was always happy as a kid with pencil and paper. My family did not encourage this frivolous activity however and urged me to pursue a more recognizable career, like chemistry. It wasn't until my second year in college that I realized that I would only be happy if I became an art major.

When I was in college, the painting majors were all doing abstract work, so I became an illustration major to learn basic skills. I pursued a career in illustration and this has served me well.

Are there any other artists in your family? (including all the arts)

My father was a "Sunday Painter" and took art lessons at the old Abbot School of Art in DC. He introduced me to the world of art by often taking me to the National Gallery of Art. His favorites were the impressionists.

He helped me produce my first oil painting at the age of eight. It was a copy of an illustration out of the old Saturday Evening Post. He showed me how to make a grid to enlarge it accurately. It was a picture of a mother with her naked child wading in some water.

His mother was a very accomplished pianist and her mother was an artist. I have four of her charcoal portraits done in the 1860's. They are framed and hang in my living room and dining room.

My son has been a drummer since he was about eight years old. He has played in bands ever since I can remember. For most of his teenage years he studied with a well-known drum teacher in Silver Spring and became very accomplished. Though it is his avocation, it is an extremely important part of his life.