A native of Eastern United States, Wayne attended schools in the East, moving quite often since his parents were ministers in the Wesleyan Church. He attended the University of Pennsylvania at Kutztown receiving a BA in chemistry in 1966. He subsequently attended and received an MS degree in biochemistry from Purdue University. He was employed at The Fort Wayne State Developmental Center for 33 years before his retirement with the State of Indiana as a Biochemist in 2003.

Wayne has been assisting Terry Ratliff with frame making, stretcher construction, Art shows and general maintenance since their partnership evolved. Having always been interested in Art, both performing and visual, he became involved in framing and stretcher construction after having met Terry in 1996. Although mainly concerned with helping Terry Ratliff in Rat aRt, he has framed for other artists and clients in Fort Wayne as well. His frames are mostly plain and simple, consistent with the philosophy that the frame should complement the work of art not overpower it. However he has created pieces that are somewhat more elaborate. His frames are created from “scratch” cutting and routing the pieces before assembling.

As both a performer and director, Wayne has been involved in community theatre in Fort Wayne for 37 years and is a founding father and current board member of the Arena Dinner Theatre. His involvement with community theatre on and off stage has garnered Wayne numerous awards for acting and directing and has helped him improve his construction skills, a useful talent in assembling frames.