How do I find information on an artist.

google
Have you tried googling him or use wikipedia?

I tried google, a bit anyway, as well as google images, and started to wonder if the name was really Himmer..
I didn't look in artcyclopedia.

What kind of painting is it, Doug Shaffer? Tell us more about it. Got a snapshot? You can add a photo here if you wish. (or can - it takes a little explaining to help you do that if you haven't before).

I have checked Google and a number of other artist related sites. It is a landscape of a weather worn tree on a sand dune along the shore of Lake Michigan. I beleive it is a site in Pentwater, MI. I don't currently have a picture but hope to in the near future.

This is one of those time that the internet might not be the best way to go. I suggest you contact universities, libraries, historical societies and town halls in the area that you think the artist lived and worked. These institutions can easily check their old documentation to see if the artist has a history in the area. I once located an obscure artist when a town clerk called me back and told me she had his 1940 property tax records on file and thought one of his paintings was still hanging in a local school. I used that information to locate other people in the area who knew more the artist and eventually I was able to track down some of his sales history.