Born in Holland, I came to the US at the age of 12. Trained as a painter in the studio with a BA in fine art I have shown in numerous exhibits and art competitions in California winning awards and earning two signature certificates, one from the Society of Western Artists and another from the Pastel society of the West coast. When I retired in 2004 I purchased a digital camera the following year and started to experiment in photography. I am mostly self taught and have taken online classes. I started entering my photos in photo competitions in 2012 and have been shown in international photo competitions with exhibitions in galleries around the world and my photos has been published in magazines and books with winning entries.