I was born in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in1960. I have lived in Phoenix, Arizona since 1966. My Native American name was given to me by my full blooded grandmother when I was a baby. She called me the "BEAR". She was half Yuchi tribe and half Creek tribe. It's not true that all Native Americans have got big money from oil wells and casinos. LOL. My given name at birth was Theodore La Don Ferguson.I go by both afterall they are both a part of me. It is good to be Proud of who you are. Anyway I was pretty much a sixties kid and had a great childhood.Things were different back then but in many ways they are still the same. History tends to repeat itself and there is nothing new under the sun. I started painting when I was nine with the help of a little old lady named Nettie Lintz who decided to take up and study oil painting. She was my next door neighbor. My favorite group bagk then was Steppenwolf and my favorite artist was Salvador Dali. I got my BFA  Specializing in Painting at Arizona State University in 1983. Painted for an art gallery for a couple of years but since I had a wife and child I had to go where the money was at that time so I branched out and worked as a graphic artist, Illustrator, consultant for the graphics flexo 4 color industry, and during the mid 90's I was a painting contractor doing custom interior and exterior homes and repaints. By then I became a burnt out bad boy bi-polar drug addict till April of 2004. Through the help of incarceration into a gaurded mental ward. I got off the street drugs and with help of medication my bi-polar condition is for the most part held in check. I lost the majority of my artwork during those distructive years but I gained my sanity. Now I have a body of work spanning over 4 years and I'm glad to share it with you. Thank you so much for your support it really helps my self esteem. My favorite artists now are Bob Dylan, Pablo Picasso, and a local artist who became pretty sucsessful Fritz Shoulder he was part Native American. He was the reason I choose to become an artist for life. My senior year in highschool I saw a documentery on PBS about Fritz Schoulder and was so inspired I decided to go in that direction. He made it look so easy and it is somewhat now that I'm 49 years old. I have been doing this for a long time but I figure I got another 49 years left to go. You never know. Things have come around full circle and I'm doing exactly what my creator put me here to do. I have a new passion to someday become a master painter before I meet my maker. God bless all of you. I can be contacted via the web at twobear1@yahoo.com or twobear1yahoo.nobullart.com