Artist Statement

When I study the elements or watch the birds, I feel as if I become part of Nature. It makes me want to play with color, to express the living vibration of things- to somehow touch the awesome mystery of it all. In some works I represent this experience by presenting the figure as a symbol of transformation, in the landscape, responding to the basic energy of life.

To reflect this inspiration, my strategy is to emphasize improvisation, with the idea that often the unplanned gesture leads to something essential. I think of this as a guiding spirit flowing thru the process, and fundamentally shaping the end results. For me the challenge in this practice is to venture boldly into the unknown while still retaining a general overall direction and control.

Before working on larger panels, I explore ideas with lots of quick sketches, focusing on weaving visible form and hidden forces and movement together. This helps to liberate my imagination, to visualize the inner substance of things, and to generate a composition. I want to imitate this spontaneity, this freedom of movement, in the formal paintings.

I use watercolors or acrylics because of their tremendous flexibility in controlling drying times. I can buildup layers rapidly. quickly remove partially dried areas, cover things up, or keep the surface wet indefinitely and push colors together. This playful flow leads to the discovery of new patterns and details, enriching the depth of the conception.

Working on multiple paintings as a group enhances this method of inviting new possibilities. It allows for time between sessions on individual works to more fully assess and appreciate the progress, and to see the threads of harmony not necessarily evident in the heat of the moment.

Bio

Studying birds was my early inspiration and passion. I had all the field guides, a “life” list too. I spent a lot of time tramping through the nearby woods, fields, and along the river, always on the lookout for new species. I even became an amateur taxidermist, much to my parents’ chagrin.

My mother was a watercolor painter- in fact everyone in the family was artistic in one way or another. Naturally, I started drawing and painting birds. I wanted to emulate my heroes like Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson. Birds seemed to represent an ideal- the freedom from earthly restrictions.

Being a child of the 1960s, other interests soon beckoned, and my creativity expanded. My mother was a devout Christian, and Dad a devotee of Eastern philosophy. A sense of the mystical grew in me. By the mid-70’s, I was exploring practices like yoga and meditation, and started learning guitar, listening to Santana and The Who. I read Carlos Castaneda and studied the Surrealists and Visionary painters like Mati Klarwin.

My first real job was mixing and matching custom paint colors in a paint store. From the beginning, I was strongly motivated towards self-study and learning on the job. I was also fortunate to have an influential art teacher in high school, and mentor-style relationships with other artists and designers along the way.

I wanted to work independently like my Dad and soon took on commercial art jobs like sign-painting. Most of my friends were musicians. They wanted murals and fancy lettering on their vehicles, so I learned to work with airbrushes, stenciling, and sign brushes. I worked in barns, garages, and other make-shift studios.

My commercial career expanded when I found a live/work studio space in a dedicated artist building. The collaborative environment and exposure to other creatives led to work for advertising photography, trade shows, and fine art and industrial theater. I developed a clientele doing murals, decorative surfaces, and faux finishes for restuarants and other public spaces, and also for private interiors.

Later, I was asked to do illustration work, and eventually specialized in food and floral product packaging art. Initially I painted these with oils or acrylics, and then in 2005 began to complete assignments with digital painting techniques. In this same period I began to make fine art print reproductions of my paintings.

CV

Exhibits

2024 | First Saturday Open Studios studio display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2024 | Progress-At Odds With Nature group show, Lofts Lobby Gallery, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2024 | Artwork Exhibit group display of artwork, Ignis Arts Dance Studio (Billerica MA)
2023 | Art From The Other Side group show Lofts Lobby Gallery, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2023 | Live-Work group show, 5Sparks Gallery (Harvard MA)
2023 | First Art Exhibit group show, Lowell Senior Center (Lowell MA)
2023 | Stored Away group show in a Western Ave Mini-Gallery, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2023 | First Saturday Open Studios studio display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2022 | MacBeth group show, Merrimack Reperatory Theater (Lowell MA)
2022 | First Saturday Open Studios & Outdoor Markets studio and outdoor display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2021 | First Saturday Outdoor Markets outdoor display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2021 | Live Studio Tour virtual tour of my studio on Facebook Live, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2020 | Live Virtual Art Studio Tour virtual tour of my studio on Facebook Live, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2020 | Visions of Nature Art Studio Tour virtual tour of my studio on Facebook Live, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2020 | First Saturday Open Studios studio display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2019 | First Saturday Open Studios studio display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2018 | First Saturday Open Studios studio display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2018 | Artwork Exhibit small store display, Fern’s Country Store (Carlisle MA)
2018 | Perspectives group show, Gallery of the Boroughs (Northboro MA)
2017 | Energy Bodies in the Elements solo show, Lowell Telecommunications (Lowell MA)
2017 | The Space Between: reflecting an inner view of nature two-person show with artist Lauren Middleton, Trinity Episcopal Church (Concord MA)
2017 | First Saturday Open Studios studio display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2016 | Artwork Exhibit yoga studio display, SUTRA Yoga Studio (Lowell MA)
2016 | First Saturday Open Studios studio display of artwork, Western Avenue Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2011 | Annual Open Studios studio display of artwork, Vernon Street Studios (Somerville MA)
2011 | Essence group show, Gleason Public Library (Carlisle MA)
2008 | Artwork Exhibit church rectory display, Trinity Episcopal Church (Concord MA)
2005 | Artwork Exhibit group show, Gleason Public Library (Carlisle MA)
1999 | Members 2D annual group show, Concord Art Association (Concord MA)
1998 | Artwork Exhibit solo show, Trinity Episcopal Church (Concord MA)
1996 | Members 2D annual group show, Concord Art Association (Concord MA)
1993 | A Little Picture Show group show, Concord Art Association (Concord MA)
1992 | Members 2D annual group show, Concord Art Association (Concord MA)
1989 | Art Exhibit group display of artwork, Decorator's Clearing House (Acton MA)
1988 | Art Exhibit display of artwork, Senkler Real Estate Open House (Carlisle MA)
1988 | Annual Show group show, Acton Arts League (Acton MA)
1988 | Annual Open Studios Waltham Mill Artist's Association (Waltham MA)
1987 | Annual Open Studios Waltham Mill Artist's Association (Waltham MA)
1986 | Annual Open Studios Waltham Mill Artist's Association (Waltham MA)
1985 | Annual Open Studios Waltham Mill Artist's Association (Waltham MA)
1984 | Annual Open Studios Waltham Mill Artist's Association (Waltham MA)
1983 | Annual Open Studios Waltham Mill Artist's Association (Waltham MA)
1980 | Eye of The Storm solo show, Concord Public Library (Concord MA)
1999 | Members 2D annual group show, Concord Art Association (Concord MA)
1996 | Members 2D annual group show, Concord Art Association (Concord MA)
1975 | CCHS Graduating Seniors group show, Concord Art Association (Concord MA)

Residencies

2022 | Tongue River Artist Residency  Bighorn Mountains WY residency and Black Hills SD visit (Dayton WY)

Demonstrations

2024 | Acrylic Painting Techniques Woburn Guild of Artists (Woburn MA)
2023 | Seascape Painting Demonstration studio painting demonstration, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2022 | Watercolor Painting Demo studio painting demonstration, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2021 | Live Seascape Painting studio painting demonstration from my studio, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2021 | Art Studio Live Painting virtual painting demonstration from my studio on Facebook Live, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2021 | Art Studio Painting Session virtual painting demonstration from my studio on Facebook Live, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2020 | Live Painting Demo virtual painting demonstration from my studio on Facebook Live, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2020 | Virtual Landscape Painting Demo Part II, virtual painting demonstration from my studio on Facebook Live, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
2020 | Virtual Studio Tour & Painting Demo virtual tour and painting demo in my studio on Facebook Live, Western Ave Studios & Lofts (Lowell MA)
1993 | Wildlife Painting Techniques demonstration during the ANNUAL SPRING FLOWER SHOW, Massachusetts Horticultural Society {Boston MA)
1990 | Airbrush Techniques demonstration of airbrush painting, Chelmsford Art Association (Chelmsford MA)
1988 | Faux Finishes demonstration of faux finishes and wall-texturing techniques, WCVB-TV Channel 5's Good Day Show (Boston MA)

Video

1996 | Ancient Drawing carved and painted panels depicting Indian cave drawings, talk show on animal rights by a local cable channel (Boston MA)
1990 | Rock Strata of Pittsburgh carved and painted panels depicting rocks and fossils found in the Pittsburgh area, video exhibit in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh PA)

Collaborations

2017 to present | mixed media paintings with artist Vanessa Compton (Lowell MA & Burlington VT)

Bibliography

Rick Sobey, New Life in Sight for an Old City Gem about decorative painting restoration in the Franco Building, Lowell Sun April 15, 2018
Hillary Levin, Energy Abounds in Person and on Canvas artist profile, Littleton Independent, March 10, 1988

Art Projects Examples

2019 | Faux Finishes and Decorative Painting decoration in an apartment and hallway at Lewis Wharf, a residential building (Boston MA)
2018 - 2023 | Decorative Painting Restoration extensive re-creation and restoration of multiple original hand-painted decorative borders, historic Franco Building (Lowell MA)
2009-2018 | Oldways Diet Pyramids series of traditional diet food illustrations for print and electronic media, Oldways.org (Boston MA)
2007 | Kissel’s Spiced Jam series of food illustrations for product packaging on nationally distributed product line (Chicago IL)
1998 | Copper Verdigris 1500 square feet of exterior green patina copper panels and eleven 14"x 52" textured interior panels in a private residence (Sherborn MA)
1990 | Plantmobile two 8'x14' murals depicting numerous species on Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s mobile ecology classroom Plantmobile (Boston MA)
1990 | Runners mural of life size jogging figures in Sheraton Boxboro health club (Boxboro MA)
1990-2001 | Sarah Michaels Bath and Beauty Products extensive series of food and floral illustrations for product packaging on nationally distributed product line (Stoughton MA)
1988 | Wonders of Italy 5'x52' mural of famous Italian vistas in Florence Restaurant (Boston MA)
1986 | Ethereal Mountains 8' x 12' magical mountain scene mural in child’s bedroom in a private residence (Brookline MA)
1985 | Star Room painted night sky and decorative border for turret ceiling in private residence (Dover MA)
1985 | Pixelations 12'x60' mural of computer-generated imagery MIT Coop food plaza (Cambridge MA)