I attended The Ohio State University as a history major before attending the Viet Nam War with the US Navy. After that, art school was at the Central Academy of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio studying under the distinguished painter of Western Art, Jackson Grey Story and went on to work many years as a commercial artist, art director, graphic designer and illustrator before entering the world of fine art.
"As an artist, what I'm most interested in is relationships." In each piece you can see the tension between abstraction and definition, the interesting relationships of his colors, and the balance of light and dark. 'Well sure, there's that,' but to explain it's the intimacies between people and people, people and animals and animals and animals that fascinate me. The relationships we have with others, with our pets, with the natural environment. "My scenes are mostly very specific and its not that I want to paint a portrait of Bud and Betty or Rex and Fluffy as much as I want to portray the essence of that moment. Whether they are flirting with each other on the dance floor, or having a quiet romp in a field of wildflowers. I'm looking at a deeper level of communication that comes from the body, the atmosphere. "That's why I don't paint faces on most of my human images." It's an invitation for the viewer to fill in the details of themselves or their loved ones.
Acrylic paint is his preferred medium now for it is particularly suited to achieving the fast impressionistic snapshots of a moment. The characteristic strokes of definition are lines that are elegant and expressive all on their own. My flowing images are inquisitive, explorational, and strike chords of recognition in viewers of the work. One remembers the sadness or joy of similar situations, the echoes of laughter wrestling with your childhood dog.
Dog Play
60” x 32”
acrylic on canvas
