Terry was born and raised in Jacksonville, Illinois and has had an interest in painting for as long as he could remember. Some of his best memories are of taking art classes at the local Museum with his Mother. After High School, he joined the Navy. While stationed at Pearl Harbor (Hickam Air Force Base) he began attending weekly oil painting classes that were offered at the Air Force Enlisted Man Center with renowned artist Dr. Soo. When his tour of duty ended, Terry returned to his family in Illinois and attended Western Illinois University, then Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, earning a business degree. Upon graduating, he married and started working in business, having no time to develop artistic skills. After some time, finding the business world not rewarding, he recognized his artistic calling and entered the world of floral design.
After working in the floral design industry for a number of years, he and his family moved to Sacramento and he had another career change - Mr. Mom. This freed up his time to attend art classes at Cosumnes River College, City College and art studies at Sacramento State College. Terry attended a Plein Air class, (learning to paint outdoors), and just loved it. Since then he has been Plein Air painting 4 to 6 days a week and now teaches Plein Air painting for the Gallery.
If you’ve never painted outside, you are in for a treat. Many artists will tell you that painting from life will make your art better and more vibrant. With that in mind we are planning additional plein air workshops. Call 916-685-5992 if you are Interested. It should be a lot of fun.
