Artist Statement
Painting has been a part of my life since the age of 7 when I watched a portrait of my father being made by the painter John Vogt. Mr. Vogt gave me a few tubes of oil paint, a brush and some blank sheets of cardboard no doubt to keep me occupied while he went about his own magic. I’ve been occupied since. I took Saturday drawing classes at The Society of Arts and Crafts in Detroit and after high school I went to Pratt Institute and studied with Richard Lindner, Walter Murch, George McNeil, and Fredrico Castellon.
After graduating I went to work for book publishers in New York and Boston designing book covers. Painting activities during this period consisted of looking rather than doing. I discovered John Peto, at a retrospective at the National Gallery in 1987 and it was his work that started me painting again. Peto was associated with William Harnett and they painted still lifes in the late 19th century. I saw my first Joseph Decker painting at the National Gallery as well. He also worked at the end of the 19th century painting small arrangements of candy or fruit. William Nicholson is a favorite. He is the father of Ben Nicholson, and he painted domestic still lifes in the early 20th century. These three painters were completely overshadowed by the work being done in Paris and New York during their lifetimes and yet they persisted and made personally motivated paintings of intimate, honest, carefully observed arrangements of mundane subjects that continue today to inspire and glow with freshness and vitality. They are my models and source of inspiration
I moved to Littleton, Massachusetts in 2000 and had a studio built on the edge of wet lands behind my garage. I work entirely alone, on several set ups at the same time. I manage to stay focused for about 5 hours a day and find little about which I can complain.
My work is exhibited and sold through Charlestown Gallery in Rhode Island; Powers Gallery in Acton; Art Space in Birmingham, Michigan; Green Apple Gallery in Harbor Springs Michigan. In addition, I’ve been lucky enough to have paintings selected to exhibit at the Detroit Art Institute in their annual Michigan Artists competition.
For me, painting satisfies the basic need that most of us have to make things. I am interested in all periods and styles of painting. I love the work of William DeKooning and the abstract expressionists. George Braque thrills me. Henri Matisse baffles me. Caravaggio tells me that “If you can paint an apple you can paint anything.” and I believe him. Italian Mannerism – Guido Reni for instance is sublime. My present interest in Georgio Morandi is obvious. I look carefully at Norman Rockwell as well, and I have two grandsons who have taken up painting.