The body of work I have produced over the last decade has primarily been an exploration of the landscape genre and an attempt to capture the ineffable character of the natural world.
I entered the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1986 as a ceramics major but soon found a home in the painting department. I explored all genres, from geometric abstraction to figurative expressionism. After graduation and six months in Paris, I headed to New York City and the Master of Fine Arts program at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. Feeling disconnected from the structure of the program there, I left and continued painting on my own. I ended up living in New York City for nine years, traveling extensively throughout Southeast Asia, India and Europe during that time and exhibiting in various galleries.
Then, in 1995, after nine months in India and Sri Lanka, I came back to New York and saw nothing but gray. I knew it was time to head back home to California and its particular qualities of light. A transition occurred on that cross-country voyage, both physically and emotionally for me. As the land opened up and the sky overhead became more vast and brilliant, I understood what I had been deprived of in the dense confines of New York City.
Upon reaching Los Angeles and setting up a new studio and home, I was commissioned to do a landscape painting for an interior decorator. Being more of an abstract painter at the time, I went looking for inspiration in different art books and museums. This led me to the rich legacy of the California Plein Air painters that had so beautifully rendered the light and terrain of California. I was hooked, and thus began my exploration of landscape painting.
Since then I have painted hundreds of images of California, up and down the coast and into the desert as well. I’m trying to define my own style within the genre and to push the boundaries of color and composition. I work hard to keep my brushwork loose yet representational and to build up a rich layer of paint on the canvas or paper. Each painting begins with a conceived direction but then becomes transformed as I let certain marks and colors lead me along until a harmonious end is achieved. The process of transformation is what keeps my creativity fueled. As much as I think I know about painting, I’m still learning and keeping my eyes open to new inspiration along the way.
Landscape painting is an extension of my passion for nature. As a California native who has seen unrestrained urban development occur in this state, I create paintings that honor what’s left of our open spaces.