ARTIST STATEMENT

Music is an important part of my creative process. I listen to the great masters of Swing, Be Bop and Hard Bop as well as classic Spanish guitar. The rhythms and emotions of these artists are what energize my work.

For me the process of painting is all about self-discovery, as I locate my inner feelings as well as solve problems that occur during creation. My paintings deal with scale, balance, memories and relationships. Only when all of these components are in harmony is the work complete. I hope that the viewer's immersion and interaction with these various components will create a beneficial and positive experience.

The recent changes in our society, with their draconian implications and actions, are fueling distress and dissent that have caused me to reevaluate the nature of my current paintings. Although not political, these new series of paintings reflect both the concern and angst that I have about the current situation.

Early important influences for me were the paintings of Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman, Arshile Gorky, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Jasper Johns, Larry Rivers; as well as professors Jake Berthot and Licio Isolani at Pratt Institute. During my time at Hunter College, other prominent figures included professors Doug Ohlson, Robert Swain, and “Toni” Milkowski.

As for my work in sculpture, sculptors Constantin Brancusi and Henry Moore were, and are of great inspiration to me.

I work in a square format, which I find creates a neutral background for space; I create large and small oil paintings using wax medium on both linen and canvas.

Early in my career, my work had been primarily based on oil pastels, living in sketchbooks, as well as oil pastels seen to completion. Working with pastels had allowed me the freedom to explore color relationships, texture, atmosphere and space on a more intimate level. To be able to further convert these works, keeping said qualities, into all-new oil paintings, had been a rewarding challenge.