statement
When I started to paint I was asked by my first teacher "Why do you want to learn to paint." My simple, naïve answer was just "I want to create beautiful paintings." I then worked on thousands of still life paintings and human form studies. I found myself absolutely fascinated by painting people such that the preponderance of my work became devoted to painting people from life. Thinking back upon my work over the years I realize that I would have answered that original question differently at different times as I progressed through the stages of my own development: "I want to capture the human form," "I want the people I paint to breathe," "I want to capture realistic skin tone," "I want to depict weight and dimensionality," "I want to capture light," etc. In time, I realized that as I achieved some measure of accomplishment with each of these goals in turn, that by then I was striving to reach yet another plateau of understanding, yet another level of accomplishment. I doubt this process will ever stop there is always more to learn, more to understand, more to master. And I love every moment of it. So, with all that I have learned over time, all the techniques, all the concepts, with everything put together I find that I have come full circle and can simply answer the original question the same way I started, I want to create beautiful paintings. I want my viewers to see and to feel at least some of the awe, wonder, and beauty I see in the subjects of my paintings.
I start the concept for a painting thinking in totally abstract terms of the flow of light, the play of color, the interplay of light and shadow, etc. The concept I decide upon then directs my hand in laying out the still life, figure study, or landscape I then paint. I paint in a direct style attempting to capture the unique quality of the subject within the original concept of the painting.
bio
born: 1957, Buffalo, New York
selected publications
Manifest Press, INPA4, 2013
selected solo or two-person exhibits
Soo Show at The Artful Phoenix, North Attleboro, Massachusetts, 2013
Three Artist Show - Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, Massachusetts, 2011
Solo Show Village Artisans, North Attleboro, Massachusetts, 2010
selected group shows
Juried Show, Copley at the Harvard Club, Harvard Club, Boston, Massachusetts, 2013
Juried Show: Sound of Light, Compley Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 2013
Juried Art Show: Pictures at an Exhibition, Boston Symphony, Boston, Massachusetts, 2013
Juried Show: Elemental Boston, Copley Society, Massachusetts, 2013
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