A backpacker off beaten tracks in the the U.S. and Canadian national parks, he travels extensively to get the subject matter for his dramatically realistic paintings of wildlife in action. His favorite areas are between Banff and Jasper national parks in Alberta, Canada, and he has traveled in Alaska.

He does his finish work in his Minnesota studio and uses a camera in the field and also sketches on small pieces of canvas.

He was raised in Delano, Minnesota and then studied in Minneapolis with well known-artists including Les Kouba and Walter Breckenridge. Metz has illustrated many books and done hundreds of drawings for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources including the loon that is on the state tax form. He has also illustrated a book on the ecology of North American elk.

His methods range from scratchboard to wash drawings, and he began marketing his work with animal head subject matter. Inspired by Richard Schmid, painter from Colorado, he experimented with conte crayon