As the son of an Air Force serviceman stationed in a small Japanese village, Ford's artistic sensibilities began to take root under the nurturing eye of an elderly Japanese painter. After moving back to the States, he enrolled at the University of Mississippi in pursuit of his BFA. After graduating from Ole Miss, Ford moved to Atlanta where he realized a natural talent for photography. During the late 70's and 80's Ford established his reputation as Atlanta's premiere fashion photographer.

Though he enjoyed his 20 year photography career, the early 90's brought a compelling urge to return to painting. Ford took a hiatus from photography to travel the world and seek inspiration. After exploring different painting styles and themes, Ford found tremendous fulfillment creating contemporary landscapes conjured from the stunning horizons witnessed during his travels. Ford's sense of nature is not a Romantic's wild and angry universe. The easy precision, subtlety and repose of his paintings may well derive from that Asian aesthetic he developed in his early years.

The intensity of working over a single piece to finish it makes the process very physical. He lets layers of paint - acrylics on canvas - drip and flow, just letting things happen. "I was taught in college to let the paint find the imagery," he recalls. Still, there is less accident in achieving these surfaces than one might think. They're a study in control and spontaneity, because while Ford may allow the materials to find their own expression, he then moves to manipulate them, and embellishes with plaster granules scattered randomly accross wet surfaces as color and texture are forced to intersect.
"My work often transforms from its original intent," he muses, "But following a creative instinct wherever it leads is what fascinates me most. I know instinctively when the painting is finished."