Personal Background

First, let me say that I am not a classically trained artist — just a guy with a passion to create that’s been with me practically my whole life. My earliest artistic memories date back to when I was very young, when I would copy and draw the newspaper comic strips of the day.  I have vivid memories of drawing Smokey Stover and Alley Oop, but my favorite cartoon strip at that time was the iconic strip by Charles Schultz, Peanuts.  Later, I dabbled in gag cartooning (with some success), created my own cartoon strips (with no success), and took up woodworking as a hobby.  As you can tell, I've always enjoyed doing things with my hands and being creative.  But painting was not on my radar screen until very recently.  A few years ago, on an impulse, I decided to buy some acrylic paints and canvases and give painting a go.  I was hooked, just like that my creative juices were flowing and my creative efforts have been devoted to painting ever since.  

Style

My style is non-objective as I enjoy the freedom it gives me. Abstract painting allows me to communicate a feeling or mood using line, color, shape, and texture and serves as a virtually limitless platform for my artistic expression. The paintings I'm currently working on come from deep inside me; I don't paint from nature or from observed influences of my everyday surroundings. In other words, I paint from the gut. Most of my paintings are very much of the moment. I paint what I'm feeling with a brush, a stroke, a scrape, a splash, a fwap, a smack or a smear, all with a color palette that intuitively feels right at the time.

Shows:

  • Small Matters 2024 - 437CO Art Gallery at Colorado Mesa University - 12/02/2024 thru 01/21/2025

  • 20th Annual Freeport Art Museum Regional Juried Exhibition - 05/11/24 thru 07/20/2024

  • Kane County Juried Art Exhibition, Geneva History Center - 06/14/2019 thru 11/2/2019

  • Water Street Studios 10th Anniversary Show, Batavia, Illinois - 09/13/2019 thru 10/05/2019

  • Art Box Holiday Art Show, St. Charles, Illinois - 11/22/2019

The below are a few examples of my work.

Click on the image to enlarge.