Soon after we moved to West Lafayette we met our next-door neighbors Doug Winslow and Jan Myers. We learned that Doug is a professor emeritus in Civil Engineering at Purdue University, and that he and his wife Jan travel extensively...usually to what some might consider "exotic" locations. It is not unusual for them to travel to Antarctica, only to turn around a few weeks later and head for the Grand Canyon!

They have also become somewhat "adopted grandparents" of Mitchell, even constructing a special spot in their unique back "yard" where Mitchell and another neighbor boy can play. They generally send postcards while on their trips, and even leave us with web cam addresses for the various ships that they might be on. And they never fail to bring back a special surprise for Mitchell!

What we didn't learn until later is that Doug is actually a very accomplished artist, and utilizes their excursions to do watercolor paintings of landscapes and seascapes. We first learned of this when the "postcards" that they sent back turned out to be actual watercolor paintings by Doug! He has been painting for over fifteen years now, and has won several art show awards. He also teaches watercolor painting classes.

Doug and Jan regularly travel to various locations to take classes for various other artistic skills, including metal-working and wood-working. They are a great inspiration for us and Mitchell to never stop learning or trying something new!

Doug's web site is www.douglas-winslow.com. You can view several samples of his paintings at the site. There is also a contact email there for purchasing paintings.