Born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1951, Larry Preston spent his teenage years at the Worcester Art Museum viewing the museum's collection of Flemish still life paintings. He tried to imitate their work and in so doing, arrived at the technique he uses today to paint his still lifes and landscapes. Completely self taught, his work evolved over many years. In his late teens, Larry embarked on what became a successful career as a musician. After 20 years in the music business, He ultimately decided to return to his first love, painting. Upon his return, he experimented with many different styles of painting, including surrealism and abstract. Echoing his love of the paintings he saw as a teenager, his desire to paint still lifes and landscapes eventually took over. He chooses to paint those objects he sees around him. Simple, everyday objects that he finds beautiful and that are all to often overlooked. A single flower or a piece of fruit celebrating the beauty to be found around us. Landscapes inspired by the bucolic scenes to be found around his western Mass home. Larry Preston's work has won numerous national awards including several from The Artist's Magazine, The Art Calendar and many juried art exhibits. He is a recent featured artist in The American Artist Magazine (July/August 2005) and was featured in the American Art Collector Magazine in the April 2009 issue. His work is included in national and international collections. His work can be seen in many illustrations for newspapers and national magazines and he has been a featured artist for PBS auctions. Painting in oil, linen or canvas Larry has developed a technique, sketching his subject first in charcoal and turpentine then applying many semi-transparent oil glazes over the original sketch. The resulting work has great depth and a luminous quality. A quiet, introspective quality is evident in his still lifes and landscapes. Larry lives and paints in western Mass with his wife Nancy, a ballet teacher.