Neal’s love affair with art began in 7th grade with some encouragement from his Art Teacher, Mrs. Whitner. Charcoal drawing led to some work in pastels which then led to lessons with acrylic paints. And he was hooked. Neal continued to try to improve his skills throughout middle and high school and into his college years. 

   After marrying and starting a family, time for painting and creating was hard to find.  His days were long and filled with work and raising a family. After retiring from a 33 year career at Bell Helicopter, Neal and his wife moved to Montague and he began to get the urge to draw and paint again. After attempting to start where he left off, he discovered he needed a refresher class with someone to guide him. It was then that he ran across Don MacLaughlin in Nocona and began attending classes. With much encouragement from Don, Neal soon learned that he has a passion for portrait drawing and painting which he continues to refine. Don also introduced him to Figure Drawing which he thoroughly enjoys. Neal feels these two types of drawing have prepared him to continue to expand his repertoire with animal portraits as well as landscape paintings.