My work has been shaped and informed by small, yet startling and timely exposures to images of
landscapes and portrait paintings by American artists such as GeorgeBellows, Edward Hopper,
John Sloan and John Singer Sargent. My identification withthe painting quality of these artists has
proven to be more intuitive than specific in detail. I did not seek out these artists’ paintings, but
came upon them in by chance, and all without preconception or knowledge of their work. I was
moved not only by the spiritual connection to the subject matter that each of these artists
portrayed, but by the masterly painting style.

As a culture, we have a rich and oft times overlooked heritage of representational painting.
There is beauty in representational painting, and there is spirit. There is the power to immediately
connect with the viewer and when done well, the power to surprise and give pause.

Traditional and representational approaches to painting have not only served me well through the
power of living observation, but allowing me a reference point from which to develop as an
intrepretive/gestural painter.

Included here are three areas of focus: plein air watercolors, portraiture, and my most recent
"gestural watercolor" work. All are included as each form of painting discipline informs the other,
and all are an integral part of providing a foundation from which to continue to explore a changing
environmental and figurative landscape.