"Putting paint on canvas is everything to me. The images I make in oil paint are my ambassadors of love, honor and respect for all life, says Manhattan and Quogue based artist Steve Alpert. His passion for nature is a common subject on his richly painted canvases in which saturated hues are applied with creamy brushstrokes. But his deepest connection to humanity is expressed in his contemporary military works that honor the men and women -- and the precarious situations they find themselves in order to protect and defend our nation. Beyond his studio, Alpert teaches art to Veterans as an adjunct professor at Fordham University in Manhattan as part of the Fordham Veteran Initiative.