My goal as an artist is to impart a joyous experience through my use of color, shape, texture and pleasurable composition to my viewer.
About Me
I live in Vancouver, Washington and I have a small beach house in Ocean Park WA. on the Long Beach peninsula. I was born and raised in northern Michigan with its varied types of forested lands, ponds, lakes and rivers. The paper birches and evergreen trees of those landscapes along with the lakeside villages, docks, harbors and lakes were an inspirational starting point for my artworks.
Today, living in the Pacific Northwest with its similar beauty, my new surroundings have added to my inspiration. Currently my time is spent exploring and seeking subjects for my paintings in fishing communities like Ilwaco on the Long Beach peninsula WA, Westport to the north and Astoria OR. on the mighty Columbia River. My paintings of harbors, fishing vessels, marshes and other marine related subjects have been influenced by my local travels. My use of vibrant colors is an immersion into a Fauvist style in my newest works. I simply love to paint and do everyday, I start very early when my world inside and out is still. My marine paintings of fishing vessels and harbors are thought out and planned before I jump in because there is a lot going on in them. My tree paintings are another story, I find it liberating to spontaneously begin with a flurry of colors and strokes. Then after that start I stand back, observe what those marks reveal, and then add to the composition to finish. I have a stack of unfinished canvases that I go back to time and again to rework those that were not successful after that first round of painting.
Examples of My Work
Fun Facts
- • I’m an avid Michigan Wolverines fan and graduate of the class of 1986 cum laude.
- • I enjoy most musical styles and played Baritone Horn in band and orchestra during High School.
- • I adore my wife, daughter and my two granddaughters and try to spoil them whenever possible.
- • Oil painting is my favorite use of my time.
- • I’ve written an art book titled “A Lifetime of Art” a catalog Raisonne of my artworks from 1966 to the present, with over 250 photographs.
More About Me
What other non-artist jobs have you had?
I worked as a welder, an assembler, a metal finisher and an Illustrator for Ford Motor Company for 22 years. Switching from hourly to salaried work mid point in those years, the Illustrator title was salaried. Worked as an ad designer for a small newspaper. Created decorative artwork for an agency that I still receive royalties from. And created artworks for an Art Publisher located in Portland OR.
When did you know you were an artist?
When I was very young 5 or 6 I wanted to paint the wildlife scenes I saw on my Dad’s ads and calendars in his sporting goods shop. I loved the sepia tones of the fields where the hunting dogs would be pointing at the pheasants.
What gives you goosebumps?
Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor Op 16, Rimsey Korsakov Scheherazade op. 35, Luciano Pavarotti “Nessus dorma” from Turandot.