I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your super fantastic site. I needed to know that just because I love realism and not most of this modern art crap, that I'm not some dinosaur from a land that time forgot. Ever since I was a little boy I have been trying to recreate what I see in a realistic manner. To me art should be something that cannot be achieved easily, otherwise what is the point? Should'nt art be an evolution of one's skills over time? Why should I draw like a child when I'm no longer a child? Is a piece of wood twisted into the shape of a necktie with some paint on it art? Not to me. Its important to me to paint skin like skin, or leather that looks like, well, leather. Some of my peers are unconcerned with such details and tell me I take too long to complete a painting. Some of them paint up to 8 sloppy paintings a day, and they sell. Painting on or around photos is not a challenge to me, what do you say? In 1994 after years in the Navy, I attended the Art Institute of Atlanta. Wanting some formal education after a lifetime of self-study(except for a drawing class at a local community college in my home town when I was 18) I had no formal training. So eager to attend school at age 35, I did not do the proper research on AIA before committing myself, or I would have realized it was not a fine arts school. Having no real interest in drawing with a computer, I often-times struggled. If I could get away with drawing an assignment free-hand, thats what I did. The only classes I enjoyed were life drawing, intro to painting, and art history. Upon graduation in 96 with an AA, I sought out and found some professional artists(most notably my teacher and friend the late Carl Owens)so that I could continue to learn and get better. I agree wholeheartedly with your philosophy because I love great art so much. There is something wrong with an art world that would push scribbling by Dekooning, over the great beauty of a Gerome.

Thank You,
Morris