About The Artist

Artist Bio

 Having been raised in an idyllic quaint northern town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, surrounded by magnificent Lake Superior, creating art that replicated the beauty of the area seemed natural. Becoming an artist was an obvious career. I received my B.F.A from the Center of Creative Studies and my M.F.A. from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. Over the years I have exhibited my work in Detroit, MI, Houghton, MI, Anchorage, AK, Brattelboro, VT, Keene, NH, and now currently showing in several towns in Maine. I’ve sold many paintings and have received numerous commissions, the largest being for the E.P.A in Ann Arbor, MI; I have painted several large scale wall murals in private homes and have taught art for several years in both college and public school and plan to teach several art adult education courses in my new location of Fryeburg, ME.

I’ve been making art for over twenty five years but included on my web site are selected works from the last ten years. All of the works on the web site are representational depictions of places I’ve been, a few are self portraits, and a couple paintings are of my children. Though oil painting is my predominant medium I have also included a few pastels and collages which I combined with glass etchings. In two of the oil painting series ‘Leaves’ and ‘Glass Vessels’ the representational images have elements of collage in them. In ‘Journey ‘,a painting from the series ‘Leaves’, depicted is a leaf that floats through the sky and through a window a boy blows a bubble aloft . Another oil, ‘ Imprisoned Narrative’, from a different series ‘Glass Vessels’, a repeated image of a photograph sits inside different shaped glasses and in one of the glasses a photograph is flowing out over the edge of the table. Though my paintings often use classic realism techniques I incorporate surreal elements to break away from realism.

Other paintings such as ‘Forced’ or ‘Rage’ the landscapes are straight forward, one is of a forsythia and the other is of a violent sky. In the painting ‘Replaced’, which is a very labor intensive rendition of a camera, I’m looking for a deeper meaning, it’s a commentary on how much art has changed since the invention of the camera. In my latest body of work, series ‘Experimental’, I’m beginning to combine glass etching and collage. This new work is combining the layering of oil painting and a more direct aspect of collage. I cut out shapes from old musical notations and literary books then glue them around various images I choose to draw. The antique yellows and umbers in this new work correspond to my affinity for antiques. The craftsmanship and faded colors of antiques indicate a different time and style from our modern day world. The glass etchings are then stacked on top of the collages creating a shallow depth and interest to the overall image. Though I’m still experimenting with these techniques I feel I’ll be working in this medium for some time. The great part of creating art is the knowledge you gain through the process. I hope you enjoy the art.