Description:

MEDIUM AND PROCESS
Watercolor is my medium of choice. Working on very smooth surfaces, rather than traditional rough watercolor paper, allows me to make my own textures. Masonite, with a smooth clay surface, lends itself to scrubbing, lifting and otherwise removing pigment and reapplying it to create a variety of surfaces. My old toothbrushes come in handy. The application of several layers of pigment achieves the strong colors that characterize my work.

INSPIRATION
Chuck Close once said “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and go to work.” It’s often a matter of self-discipline.
I choose traditional subject matter and medium but use both in a non-traditional manner.
The subjects are certainly recognizable but not realistic. My perceptions are expressionistic and somewhat abstract. Red bears and buffalo are not common.
The paint is the real subject: the quality of line, the handling of color, texture and space (positive or negative) … The paint and how it moves is the focus. The bear or the buffalo is the vehicle for the paint.

I was born in Seattle, but school years were spent in Florida and the Black Hills
until receiving my BFA from the University of Florida where I had gone to become a neurosurgeon but discovered that the University also has a good art school.
Moving on to South Carolina, I worked as a graphic designer in Columbia and Charleston. New York then became home. Working on Madison Avenue as an art director for a small and creative advertising agency was an exciting adventure for almost a decade.
I now live and paint (gratefully) in the Black Hills, another exciting adventure.