Artist Statement & Biography

Atmosphere, light, depth, color; these are the qualities I enjoy most when viewing a work of art. It is these qualities I strive to infuse into my own work, because in strong and sensitive combination an emotion will be triggered through the viewer's own experiences.

Born in Alhambra, California in 1952, my earliest artistic influences came from the immediate family: my mother a watercolorist; my father an organist. After high school I took painting classes in watercolor from Lester Bonar in San Gabriel, California and later from William Schimmel in Phoenix, Arizona. Beyond that I studied, and continue to study, from books and viewing master works at museums I've had the opportunity to visit.

My first paid-commission for a painting came at age twenty. Another commission came shortly after and I sold a few paintings through a gallery in my early twenties. Life happened and my painting became increasingly sparse over the years, but "seeing" the world around me as a painter never waned.

My interest and endeavors in photography first began with a Kodak Brownie camera, which I still have. I got my first SLR camera, a Yashica TL Electro (which I also still have) in the mid-seventies. After getting my first DSLR, a Canon 50D, I enrolled in course work with the New York Institute of Photography to enhance and sharpen my skills and knowledge of photography.

Whether I am working in painting, drawing, etching, or the photography medium, my artistic goals are the same: to simply create a work of beauty, through strong design and play of light, that will invoke an emotional response from my viewer.

Graduate 2013: New York Institute of Photography: Complete Course in Professional Photography

Graduate 2010: University of Phoenix Online: Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology / with Concentrations in Visual Communications and Web Development