I bought my first computer--well not exactly buying one, but building one from Heath Kit in 1982. That computer worked for a while, but as we all know, things don't stay static when you are talking about computers and technology. I bought another computer a few years later--and then another one a few years after that. With my third computer, I inherited software that let me connect to one of the few online services that were available at that time--Prodigy.

I signed on to that service and came across the "Arts Bulletin Board." There I found a watercolor board and struck up a conversation with the artists there. Over the next several months we talked back and forth, eventually putting together an online watercolor group that we called the Order of the Wet Brush. We published a newsletter, did some online watercolor projects, and had an all-round great time. Because of my electronic connection, I was asked to contribute to the newsletter and wrote an epistle for that. The other artists seemed to like what I had written, so I wrote another, and another, and another.

Unfortunately, the Prodigy thing faltered and fell apart. However, what had happened to me by that time was a key link in my journey. I learned that other artists liked what I wrote about my watercolor journey. I was a changed human being. When the Prodigy thing went south, the Internet was just coming alive--the first browsers had been invented and stuff was starting to be written in HTML for the public to view with the new browsers. I sat on the sidelines for a couple of years, but then it occurred to me that I could publish what I had written on the Internet.

I published a few articles and when it seemed that it wasn't enough, I started writing new epistles. It wasn't long until I had quite a site with a number of articles. I didn't work very hard at publicizing my site, just kind of let it evolve. But a strange thing happened. I started getting emails from watercolor artists around the world saying that what I had written touched them in some way.

My site has been in existence for close to ten years. I continue to paint watercolors, connect with watercolor artist around the world, and tell the world about my passion for watercolor. It is indeed a fine watercolor journey.

You will also find some of my essays at the following site.