When I am surrounded by nature’s glory, I experience spirituality. I feel inspired, connected, peaceful, and in awe. Landscape is my vehicle to share feelings and experience, but it wasn’t always this way. I started as a figure painter and transitioned to landscape under the influence of friends who were heavily involved in the environmental movement.
My oil and watercolor paintings range from representational to semi-abstract, focusing on the big picture (Macro), to the close-up (Micro). Concepts and ideas are essential. I became interested in Asian art, specifically Chinese ink paintings from the Sung Dynasty. In these paintings, water (yin) balances the mountain (yang). This is where my fascination with water originated.
The reflective and abstract qualities of water are an endless source of intrigue. The meeting place of land and water holds the most allure. It is a rare painting that does not include water in some form.
My work is a fusion of traditional and contemporary. The technique follows tradition with emphasis on good craftsmanship, archival materials, and painterly brushwork. This is embellished with contemporary color theory and viewpoint. I choose to paint landscape with an emphasis on beauty as the means to communicate the importance of nature in our lives. Recently, figures occasionally re-appear as humans enjoying this sacred earth.
Pratt Institute, BFA with Highest Honors 1980. National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts, NYC. Oil painting w/ Ronald Sherr, 1983-84. Portraiture Workshop with Daniel Greene. North Salem, NY. 1991.
