About

As far back as I can remember, I have been attracted to the interplay of light and shadow and the way colors interact with each other under different lighting conditions. What makes one color pop and another color translucent? How does the color in a bright area affect the color in a shadow? The subject matter of my work is almost irrelevant in that regard. I’m happy to paint an image of a garbage can as long as the light, shadows, and color are interesting to me. Over the years I’ve worked with a variety of mediums such as pencil, pen and ink, watercolors, oils, and acrylics. I’m currently working with acrylics on canvas, and enhancing digital imagery using Photoshop.

I’m surrounded by inspiration everywhere I turn. Light streaming in through a window in the early morning. Wind blowing through the trees, turning the leaves over just before a storm. The subtle shades of twilight. The nuance in the shadows on snow-covered ground. The fresh intensity of colors at the dawn of spring. The cool tones of Miles Davis’s trumpet. The gritty texture of John Lee Hooker’s raw voice and guitar. The mesmerizing harmonies of a Mozart symphony. All of these things—and more—feed into how I express myself through my images.

Some of the painters that influence my work are Rembrandt, Claude Monet, John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, J. C. Leyendecker, and Norman Rockwell.

I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC and left at age nineteen to study painting and illustration at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. After graduating from SVA in 1985, I worked as an editorial illustrator for magazines and newspapers including The Boston Globe, Business Week, GQ Magazine, Manhattan Inc. Magazine, and The Washington Post Magazine. In 1987, I moved into the world of graphic design working for clients such as Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin Group USA, and St. Martin’s Press. I have also designed materials for a number of clients outside the book publishing industry including Elizabeth Arden, L'Oréal Professional, The Museum of Modern Art, The New York Pops, Lenox Hill Hospital, Major League Baseball, and The National Book Foundation.

I am a co-founder of the 727 Award at The School of Visual Arts and have been a part-time faculty member at Parsons The New School for Design. Right now my work is primarily focused on enhanced digital imagery, and custom painted home portraits. Many of my paintings are in private collections around the world.