Artist Statement

Much of my art is guided by Cezanne and the other impressionists. The abstract expressionists of the 60’s & 70’s of the Bay Area; Diebenkorn, Joan Brown, Nathan Oliveira & Sam Tchakalian, all Bay Area artists were also looking to Cezanne. So, in my work you will see echos of that 60’s & 70’s environment but looking to the past. As a child. I liked to draw airplanes and cars and other stuff. Now my focus is composition and color.

I do still lives, landscapes & portraits in much the same mode as my hero, Paul Cezanne. Some of the work has a subtle sense of humor: My view of the world, a journey through my personal landscape. The issues in mind are: composition, color, narrative and so-on. Very interesting is the curious relationship between color and value.

Additionally, I spent 30 years as an engineering draftsman. Making civil and environmental maps and site plans. In that work I acquired a keen sense of drafting & cartography. Cartography is one of the oldest human art forms. All three, drafting, cartography and painting have long standing and separate approaches to visual expression. I find it interesting to see the subject from their separate perspectives and even find ways to fuse their techniques. Rendering complex ideas to paper. Something like painting but completely different goals.

I believe an interesting note; I graduated from art school and then later went back to school at the local community college and learned drafting. I think the order is important. I believe if I had gone to art school after being in engineering the outcome would have been completely different.