Artist Statement
In September of 1969 I began my college education at Long Beach State. One of my first impressions of the art department was that many of the student paintings displayed in the hallways had a similar style. I was later to find out that Wayne Thiebaud had been a guest painting instructor the year before and his unique painting style had obviously made an impression on the students. Even though I was not fortunate to have had the benefit of his instruction I have admired his work ever since. However, I was fortunate to have had a class with Walter Askin, another renowned contemporary California artist. He taught me the importance of composition as the cornerstone of any good painting and working up the composition is always my first priority for any project.
When I paint I prefer to use oils. They seem better suited to my painting style and I can achieve the results I want with less effort than water based paints. I tend to draw rather than paint with the brush. I think all artists start out as draughtsman and then move into other media. Drawing was such a large part of my early training and my later free-lance work, that it feels more natural to apply the paint that way.
Whether I'm painting for myself or for someone else, I tend to simplify my designs for no other reason than simplicity is pleasing to me. I always feel that the primary goal of an artist is to please themselves before they can please the viewer. All though I am happy to accept commissions, nothing is more fulfilling than that which I design and create myself.
In the fall of 2007 I traveled across the Salisbury plain to Stonehenge and as my artist eye was free to roam over these ancient stones and I began to visualize various compositions. My 2008 Stonehenge series is the result of this pretty spectacular visit. A heavy rain storm had just passed through the famous monument and the late afternoon sky was stunning. Hopefully, this series of paintings affords the viewer an opportunity to experience Stonehenge the way I experienced it that day. I tried to present the uninitiated a breath of the very atmosphere that is uniquely Stonehenge after the storm.
In 2014, my wife and I moved to the Pacific-Northwest to be close to our children and grandchild. Most of my new landscape work reflects that change.