Some 20 years ago, in the midst of a professional career and raising a family in Birmingham, Alabama, Dirk Walker unknowingly discovered his path in life that probably was in place since childhood…that he was meant to be an artist. As a boy he watched his father paint in watercolors and sketches in pen and ink. Later, majoring in Industrial Design at Auburn University, the foundation for painting was put in place through academic training on the importance of concept, composition, perspective, color and draftsmanship in presenting a visual message to the viewer. The moment he first walked into Loretta Goodwin Gallery as a potential buyer, he realized his desire to learn the process of painting would be a priority in life. Dirk Walker has since established himself as a highly collected oil painter in a variety of subjects from landscapes and cityscapes to wildlife and still lifes. His work is collected nationally as well as internationally- both in private and corporate collections. His paintings hang in Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA, Corporate Headquarters of Coca-Cola and in collections of the Auburn University President’s home, as well as the home of Ronnie Van Zant, lead singer of the rock and roll band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Most recently he was the 2013 Grand Prize of the Energen Corporation Art Competition and the 2014 Employee’s Choice Winner of the same annual juried art competition. He was also the only out of state artist chosen to have an original work hang in the new SunTrust Stadium in Atlanta, GA.