I was born in Miami, Florida in '52 to Gilbert and Christine McCullough as the second of three sons.
My father was a career United States Air Force technician and my mother a skillful artist.
While traveling with my family, a full range of geographical environs across the nation and overseas
provided a wide variety of growth experiences. Military bases in Florida, New York, Illinois, New Mexico
and Michigan - including the Bahamas and Japan, were home sites during my early years.
Moving back to Miami in '65, our family would tour the sites of South Florida on the weekends.
After obtaining an Associate in Arts degree from Miami-Dade Community College in '74, a two-year position
as a graphic designer for a company called T.I.F. Instruments in Miami provided experience in the art
of commercial photography and page design.
Late in '75, I spent considerable effort in trying to market myself to the major television networks
and record companies as a program director in the filming of entertaining music projects now known as
"music videos". It was my hope that a new medium would be developed which would use cinema technology
to reveal the literature within many popular songs and create short entertaining movies. However,
the lure of the sea and the climate of the Florida Keys became more important than a filming career
in Los Angeles or New York.
In '76, I acquired a 37' Chesapeake sailboat in need of repair and moved to Key Largo where I began
a simple and economical lifestyle living off-shore. Because of this unique lifestyle opportunity, I found
the time to pursue a vocation in the creation of acrylic driftwood paintings and silk screen printing
illustrations that depict nearby marine scenery.
As an independent artist with time to personally search for a better understanding of Maritime History
and the Natural Sciences, I studied for many hours at several public libraries and book stores gathering
scientific views that would later inspire me to become a writer.
With family support, a book project series that began in the early eighties became very important -
and by '88, Version 1 was selling in a local book store. The book, entitled "SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS -
The Treasure Adventure", is based on the cultural aspects of early maritime tribes throughout the
Atlantean realm and attempts to reveal the reality behind history's greatest mystery -
the legend of Atlantis.
It is my belief that this ongoing scientific endeavor has the potential of significantly rewriting our
understanding of ancient history and modern science. I have also written a book about the
Fountain of Youth story called "LOST FOUNTAIN - Researching the Legend"
which can be studied at the lostfountian.com website.
In the nineties I worked for seven years as a receptionist at the Florida Keys Visitor Center and the
Key Largo Chamber of Commerce where I learned communication skills in guiding visitors to the many
sights and wonders of the Florida Keys. While a licensed USCG boat captain working with the family
business of Caribbean Watersports, the new millennium brought the opportunity to guide visitors around
upper Florida Bay and teach marine science.
My marriage to Cynthia Coles of Bristol, England in '90 presented a travel opportunity to experience
and record on film many scenic sites throughout England, Western Europe and the Caribbean.
We have also collected colorful images from places in the western United States and from the mountains of
Western North Carolina. These images and other personal artwork can be found at THE REALM GALLERY
(therealmgallery.com) website where online visitors can share in the adventure. We currently live near
the town of Brevard in North Carolina where I update my studio work when I can.