According to Wallis, "It was not always so." Up until the mid-1980s, Wallis was a professional in the business world and had never even picked up a paintbrush. He began painting as an after-work hobby. It worked so well for him that, after only six months, he abandoned business for art.

The studies of the surrounding countryside of his rural Utah home evoke images of fragrant summer havens from childhood days. Says Wallis of his art, "I can't seem to paint fast enough to catch all the beauty."