Bio:
I began painting in oils as a child with various teachers in New England and New York. I continued drawing and painting in several mediums at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, including study in Paris in the summer of 1989, and participated in two student exhibitions at the Morris B. Belknap, Jr. Galleries, Allen R. Hite Art Institute. In 1990, I attended the San Francisco Art Institute where I continued to study drawing and painting with Franklin Williams. In 2020 I began to study with Simon Kogan at a 10-day workshop and continue now with periodic consultations and critiques. In 2020 and 2021 I participated in the Southwest Washington Juried Exhibition in Olympia, Washington, where I have lived and worked for many years.
Artist Statement:
I need to care about what I paint, whether the subject is in my surroundings or appears as an image in my mind. I seek to express some aspect of my relationship with the subject as fully as possible in my work. Often my view of the subject and what it evokes will change, sometimes radically, as I work with it. I use color primarily, and any painting tool I have at hand to create an image strong enough to say something. My recent oil paintings are landscapes including views of Olympia in the constantly changing Northwest light. Some of the many artists who have inspired and influenced me are Edouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, JMW Turner, and more recently Joan Eardley and Frank Auerbach.