When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I was in love with the characters in the comic strip “Pogo,” and to this day, my childhood friends will remind me that I used to draw Pogo on the blackboard whenever the teacher would allow me a little time to myself. If I wasn’t at the blackboard, I was usually in the cloakroom, having been given a little extra time to myself because I couldn't sit still in class, but it was not until I was in my 40’s that I looked at art a little differently; I was out of work, Christmas was coming, and I needed gifts for my sisters, so using the paints and brushes a friend had given me years before, I painted portraits of their dogs. I got hooked on painting, and portraits in particular, and still enjoy working on them as gifts, or doing an occasional commission. Since retiring in 2015, I’ve also taken up watercolors and drawing, and now spend as much time doing them as I do portraits. I hope you enjoy the site, and if you would like to reach me, my e-mail is: skipvanlenten@gmail.com.