BIO

I started drawing animals and birds for girls sitting next to me in the fourth grade.  However, I was not encouraged to choose art as a vocation because to be successful, a young artist would have to be able to draw exceptionally well, be extremely dedicated while completing an expensive training and apprentice period. At that age I was just drawing for fun. My parents advised..." focus on math, sciences and business for a more practical pursuit". This mindset probably resulted from their surviving the depression years.  After graduating from college (San Francisco State), I spent the first 6 years as a social worker for Sacramento County and then 32 years as an associate analyst for the State of California. During this same period, my wife (Terri) and I had 2 children and managed an antique business in the Folsom historic district. Concurrently, I took art courses at night school and occasionally received private instruction in painting and drawing. I retired in 2004, and soon afterward we moved to Cambria, California.  Finally, I was able to focus painting and drawing.  During the past 15 years, I have completed a number of art courses at 3 community colleges, attended 14 workshops and received individual instruction from 3 professional artists (see 'skills training).   From this experience, I have learned and practiced many techniques. 

STATEMENT

Currently, my approach to painting is similar to Jackson Pollock's who wrote ..."I continue to get further away from the usual artist approach... When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of get acquainted period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears of making changes, destroying the image,;etc., because the painting takes on a life of its own. I try to let it through”. I like non representative works because they entice the viewer to analyze and interpret  the image.  To my mind, abstraction is poetic. To be successful, this modality must communicate mystery, complexity, variety, some discordance and finally color to create excitement.  A few of my favorite artists are Pablo Picasso, Oscar Kokoschka, Francisco Goya, Diego Rivera, Leroy Neiman, Robert Arneson and Robbie Conal.