Some men are outdoorsmen, and some golfers. Some are businessmen, some husbands. Some are adventurers, and others, artists. Eric Emile Walker is all of these.

And now, his art becomes his greatest adventure.

Living at different locations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Europe for the next two years, Eric, accompanied by his wife Suzy, will paint. Since 1999, painting has been his life's passion. It now becomes his life full-time, as he leaves his successful business in Gainesville, Florida, a business he's owned since 1986, the year he and Suzy married. In 1999, a friend and an art class set him on this new course. Since then, years of private instruction and workshops have prepared him to take this inspiring step.

Involved with art in his youth in Michigan, where he was born in 1962, Eric never lost his fascination with museums and the work of the Masters. He studied them as he and his wife explored various countries together. He felt those works on canvas compel him to hold a brush in his hand. Once he'd done just that, he could not let go.

I've known him for nine years, and, as I've grown as a writer, I've watched him grow as a painter. We've enjoyed many discussions about our respective art forms. And now you can watch him continue to develop his talent through this web site, your link to his decision to pursue his dream. He and Suzy, his encourager and best friend, plan to end their two years on the road in the forests and mountains of Vermont where, surely, still more paintings await.

Mark Andrew Smith
Gainesville, Florida
February 2005