As a young artist in my mid-twenties I was heavily influenced by one of my favourite illustrators, Normal Rockwell. At the time I made my living doing pen and ink drawings and limited edition prints. I tended to work in series, thoroughly exploring themes or subjects before moving on to the next. For a while I did many drawings of kids and typical situations, most often featuring my favourite models, Peter and Rebecca. One series I worked up was of them and their favourite outdoor toy 'the TORNADO' They had robbed the undercarriage from a classic red wagon to build their personal hot rod. The punch line was the bumper sticker on the back which read 'I drove the Coquihalla' - a new freeway through the mountains. The first drawing in the series was called 'the critic'.

The next piece was called 'the race' for obvious reasons.

A local police officer and friend kindly posed with the kids for this classic piece called 'Friendly Reminder.'