Artist Statement

I have lived in the West since leaving Michigan in the early '80s. As a result, much of my inspiration comes from scenes in and around the Southwest, the West Coast, and more recently from locations all over the world. I have a particular passion for European landscapes and am lucky enough to be able to travel there often for new inspiration. Recent trips include: Italy, Spain, France, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia.

Most of my large-scale creative work is done in the studio in a controlled environment; however, I enjoy an occasional plein air day or two on my trips to capture the feel of the locations I paint. Landscape painting draws me in, particularly where there are architectural elements involved. I believe that my background in engineering helps me to represent architecture in a way that is both realistic and inviting. I particularly like to challenge myself with perspective in my compositions. People often comment that they feel as if they could walk right into one of my paintings. My goal is to evoke that kind of emotional response in the viewer. I have somewhat of a fascination with doors, windows and passageways and like to capture their sense of mystery and intrigue in my work. In addition, my love of the outdoors helps me to see and capture the vibrancy of native plants in the scenes that I paint.

I have spent considerable creative energy over the past several years developing my floral series of paintings. As a departure from my landscapes, my floral palette is much more vibrant, energetic and can be quite captivating. The juxtaposition of the clean lines and hard edges of the bloom with the fluid luminosity of the background has the effect of an almost photographic presentation. When creating my floral works, my inspiration comes when I see sunlight on the blooms that create dramatic shadows and light. It's a challenge to capture this glow and radiance that only nature can create. Since moving to California, I have taken up gardening and many of the subjects in my paintings are "home grown."

I am a self-taught artist and have been pursuing the arts since finishing my Engineering degree. I focused many years on textile painting and began using watercolors 15 years ago. The fluid, spontaneous nature and flexibility of this medium allows me to express my creativity in a very fulfilling way. I work exclusively in watercolor and paint on both paper and canvas - a fairly unique presentation for the medium. In addition to painting from my own inspiration, a substantial portion of my body of work is commissioned by my collectors.

I currently have working studios in Scottsdale, Arizona and Danville, California and participate in exhibitions, fine art shows and festivals in both of these regions as well as Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, Colorado and Texas.