About Me:

Artist statement:

My paintings strike a balance between telling a narrative and creating an intriguing composition. By achieving this balance I hope to share my vision of us as people, our environment, and nostalgia about a way of life that is past, and how that nostalgia reflects on our present.

I work mostly from photographs. My goal is to use the photograph as inspiration for a distinct piece of art, rather than limiting myself to attempting to copy or emulate it. My greatest challenge is to recognize the great painting inside an innocuous snapshot, to draw out the singularities I see, and express them through the artistic process. What attracts me to a particular image is the chance moment that captures an intriguing composition and subject. The subject in the snapshots I choose invites us to explore our conceptions of relationships, gender roles, the lives of children and the way we interact, work and play.

The foundation of my art is drawing. The images are simply and boldly drawn. I paint thinly, and I try to keep the drawing visible if possible. I work mostly on colored or brown illustration board, or directly on wood panel. The colors are rich and yet subtle, based on a limited palette, working off of the color of the surface I work on. I have a style that is based on American Regionalism, American Realism, and Modernist. The paintings I create are unquestionably contemporary, yet classic and accessible.

In choosing snapshots and photographs that involve happenchance and unpretentious expression, I show how the mundane moments of life are rich with meaning. My style is transcendent of time or fashion, and evoke the essence of life and our ageless corporeal existence.