| Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he was raised on a farm near Des Moines, Iowa. At age 12, he took WPA art lessons and in highschool studied commercial art. In 1946, he joined the Marines and then spent three years with carnivals as a magician. He worked briefly in Iowa as a newspaper artist and then went to San Diego where he studied at the Coronado School of Art. He also attended Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, paying his way by selling western paintings. In 1971, he studied in Mexico and decided to become a full-time painter with Old West subjects. He settled in El Cajon, California. |
