Al is a self-taught artist and amateur naturalist having spent most of his life working at his art and studying the world’s wild creatures and the out-of-doors. While living in Minneapolis he fell under the tutelage of Les Kouba, a world renowned wildlife artist, who encouraged and aided him with his earlier painting efforts. Al grew up amid the mountains and valleys, the deep forests and sparkling trout streams of northwestern Pennsylvania, now residing in Ridgway. It was in this environment where he spent much of his leisure moments developing his love and interest in the things of the natural world. His interests and avocations have found Al photographing, sketching, and observing the wildlife across the frozen sub-arctic, the savannahs and forests of Africa, and many wonderful places in between. See his wildly wonderful paintings at booth 66.