Iowa-born artist known for his elaborate sand paintings. He collected most of the sand for his artwork at Pikes Peak State Park, an Iowa park with naturally-occurring colored sand.
A childhood bout of encephalitis left him deaf; he studied in his teen years at the Iowa State School for the Deaf and Dumb.
He sold his early artwork at a local grocery store, asking five to seven dollars per painting.
He was raised in McGregor and Council Bluffs, Iowa. He died at the age of thirty-seven.
Sculptor Barry Flanagan also made use of sand in his early artwork.
