Before I put on my make up;oil,alkyd;19x16
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"People, people, people. That’s what I draw, that’s what I paint, that’s what I love seeing when going to museums and galleries. I am drawn to explorations of how to represent the human figure. My figures are recognizable, but described in patterns and vibrant colors. Inspiration comes from anywhere, everywhere: old photos, advertising, pornography. Currently I am working to push my own boundaries of what figures or portraits should look like: more patterning almost to the point of abstraction, while preserving the human spirit."
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En Guard at the Met
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Lived most of my life growing up in Lancaster County. I won the most artistic award at Cocalico Union High School and won Best in Advertising Award upon graduation from Kutztown University. Was coerced into advertising because they needed students to fill the advertising course and naively said i wanted to learn EVERYTHING. It was only the second year of fine Arts Program and i really wanted to be in the painting program. By the time i had my one elective my senior year, painting wasn't available, so i took a semester of print making. I didn't think i deserved the advertising award but my senior show consisted of illustrations which everyone seemed to like. I had pushed through an artist crisis the Thanksgiving before graduation and it freed me to draw and draw which became my senior show. After graduating, i did go back for two more courses; weaving and off the loom. I eventually moved to Reading PA and met some fine artists and we started an artist cooperative there in a beautiful building which was once a hardware store. We had open studio spaces and eventually a small shop. Advertising finally paid off. I designed invitations and promotions for Artifactory and also for some of the other artists. I moved to Brooklyn in 1988. Had a studio in Red Hook for several years until it became too expensive. Worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 12 years as a security guard. (Seven years before that, i eventually became manager of Acoustigude, the very popular guided tours with Philippe de Montebello) i saw many great shows which included two of my favorite paintings; "The Dining Room in the Country" by Bonnard and "Tea in the Garden" by Matisse, which i would visit most mornings before the Museum was opened. I was doing pornographic drawings for small erotic magazines when i moved to New York and was lucky to see the Tom of Finland exhibit. No one can draw leather like he could. I was represented by two galleries dealing in Erotic Art, both, unfortunately, going out of business. It was wonderful having a gallery director who not only liked my work, but understood and supported the work as well. He carried and sold work in California. His wife ran Tiny Fine Arts and managed to get the gallery artists to do two displays in Bergdorf Goodman's windows. I am included in two publications, "100 Artists of the Male Figure" and "Powerfully Beautiful." I have moved back to Denver, PA permanently, to our family home. I currently have a studio at GoggleWorks, a conglomerate of studios, galleries, a movie theater and class rooms in Reading PA. I am on the committee to help select future shows and also evaluate prospective studio artists.
