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Hi, I'm Ron Mathis, The Accidental Artist. My formal training and career were in civil engineering, with an emphasis on structural engineering, also somewhat accidental. During one of my job stints, management inadvertently inspired me to draw satirical cartoons during my lunch break. I discovered my limited ambidexterity by drawing with pen in one hand and sandwich in the other. During my off time I began dabbling in more serious art, which took awhile to actually look serious. Eventually, people started calling me "an artist," and I soon started to believe them. I chose pen and ink as my preferred medium, because I spent a number of years as a drafter, often working with technical pens. Always looking for unnecessary challenges, I drew my first images using crow quill dip pens, but switched to technical, then artist, pens to make life a bit easier.

As a drafter/designer, I drew using straightedges, compasses, and templates, but no matter how good my work looked, it always looked like drafting, as it was supposed to. As an artist, I demanded detail and realism, but wanted to avoid the "drafted" look. I decided the only way to do this would be to draw everything freehand, without the aid of rulers, straightedges, compasses, or templates. I call it "polished crudeness," and I think it's easy to see the irregularities, even if others don't.

The Early and Later Years

I entered this world in North Wildwood, New Jersey, part of the barrier island making up the Wildwoods and Lower Township. I grew up (sort of) in Wildwood Crest and developed a love for the seashore at an early age. While pursuing my career in structural engineering, I lived at various times in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida, and Maryland. I currently reside in North Wildwood, New Jersey, with my wife, Jackie. It took about 35 years to get back to where I started out. They say you can't go home again. Well, maybe that's true in the sense that someone else now lives in my original home, but for all practical purposes, that's nothing more than a saying that someone thought up.

A True Native

Although my family lived in Wildwood Crest, I was actually born at Margaret Mace Hospital in North Wildwood. Okay, so it looked more like a big house than a hospital, probably because it was a house being used as a hospital, founded by Dr. Margaret Mace. Technically, I'm more of a native now than I've ever been.

By the Way...

I have a degree in civil engineering from Drexel University and am a U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran. In addition to my in-country service on YFU's and LCU's, I served aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) and the U.S.S. Pawcatuck (AO-108). For what it's worth, I've crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by ship, and crossed the Pacific five times in thirteen months, twice by ship and three times by plane.

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