I have been lucky to have had a creative career that has included pen and ink illustration, creative writing, graphic design, architectural rendering, publishing, landscape architecture and now, printmaking and owning the Backroads Press studio. The one thread that has tied all of my work together has been my appreciation of the natural landscape and the desire to interpret that appreciation to others.

I don’t have extensive art training to list or an impressive resume of artists that I have studied with, but what I do have is a passion for design, traditional printmaking, creative writing and love of the natural scenic landscape. You might say that the artist and printmaker I have become was influenced by my Grandfather, Edwin Perry. My Granddad was not an artist, but he had a great appreciation of art. Granddad’s collection of the Prairie Printmakers’ Gift Prints graced the walls of his Riverside bungalow home and now reside on the walls of my own Riverside home in Wichita. Because of the Prairie Printmakers’ work, I developed an appreciation of traditional printmaking craftsmanship and have devoted the culmination of my creative energy to perfecting the art of printmaking and interpreting the rural scenic landscapes. My interest in creative writing was influenced by my father, Martin Perry, who was a newspaper journalist and editorial writer for the Wichita Eagle and Beacon.

My art background began at Kansas State University with several art classes including a printmaking overview. My senior project in Landscape Architecture was a self-directed character study of the Kansas Flint Hills which included over 25 pen and ink illustrations, photographs and writings. My project was published by the Kansas Department of Economic Development as promotional material for the Flint Hills. Upon graduation, my career in Landscape Architecture led to the design of many notable Wichita projects, including the entrance features at Wichita State University, the Delano Streetscape and Clocktower and the Boundless Playscape playground at Sedgwick County Park. I was fortunate enough to become a partner in a multi-disciplinary architectural firm, but always continued to develop my pen and ink work depicting the rural Kansas landscape. Recently, my illustrations have appeared in the Symphony in the Flint Hills program booklet and publications. Early in my career, my artwork was selected for the 1982 River Festival poster and the Charter Edition Botanica Poster. My interest in printmaking took me back to a college level art class to jumpstart my new profession and I am now working with intaglio and relief printmaking techniques in my home printmaking studio.