I was born in 1940 in a little town called Spisske Podhradie in the eastern part of Czechoslovakia, what now exists as Slovakia.  I was eight years old when I began to draw the woods and the amber fields of wheat that surrounded my town.  But it was the glorious castle that stood high above my home that captured my fancy as a young boy and led me to draw its majestic lines from every angle and every perspective imaginable. At age fourteen, I won my first art competition being recognized as the best from the region's four hundred entries.  No doubt that was my first step toward my goal of becoming a professional painter.
   
My mentors were many celebrated artists and teachers at the Bratislava Art School and the School of Fine Arts in Uherske Hradiste, and I studied under them all.  I obtained a valued education much needed in work that favored portraiture, figure, and landscape painting.  My professional career started with three years of commercial art.  After that, independent work on various assignments and commissions began.
   
Traveling through Egypt and studying ancient art had a significant influence on my approach to art, and it led to a better understanding and comprehension of my mural paintings and mosaics that I was commissioned to do.  My career in Czechoslovakia was very promising, but short.  It was my insight into the injustice of the system, the presentation of art as I saw fit, and the raw truths that I painted that made me realize that I could never fulfill my personal satisfactions there.  Simply I was not allowed, or perhaps I felt unallowed, to paint that what was in my soul and heart.  I was struck with the thought of leaving my homeland. 
   
In 1969, after a year of extensive traveling, painting, and showing throughout the countries of Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Austria, I decided to look for new opportunities and a new home in the United States.  I continued my passion for painting.  My wife Yary, five year old son Peter, and myself became permanent residents of this country.  All my free hours then were devoted to the painting of the truths I held to be self-evident.  It was a struggle and it was hard work, but thinking of it as a price to be paid for getting closer to success made it a little easier.  Today, I know that the decision I made thirty years ago was right, and my paintings are a culmination of my learned truths throughout my life.

education:
1956-59       Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art, Graphic Design Bratislava Art Academy

1960-61      Masters in Art, The School of Fine Arts, Uherski Hradiste

1966           Independent Study, Ancient Arts, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt