I am a forty-four year old artist and have been painting prolifically since 1992. I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, where I received a wealth of knowledge and education in modern painting and sculpture. My first encounter with Modern Art, had a dramatic influence on my artistic direction; at the age of seven, standing in front of Jackson Pollock's "Convergence's" and Willem de Kooning's "Gothem News" at the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, I found myself overwhelmed and inspired by their beauty.
My intimate knowledge of modern art began when the Anderson family moved the Martha Jackson Gallery to Buffalo. This is when I met my life long friend Reed Anderson. At a young age we used to skateboard down the hallways and corridors of the Anderson Gallery, daringly cruising by de Kooning's, John's and Tapies paintings, Louise Nevelson and Karel Appel sculptures. I frequently went to the gallery openings, helped with the installations and was introduced informally to many of the artists. All of these experiences led me to start an independent work/study program of my own design, to focus on the technique, theory, and philosophy of American Abstract Expressionism. These real life situations have aided in my knowledge and development of art, the art world and the artists. I have spent the last ten years studying the evolution and techniques of Willem de Kooning, Hans Hoffman, Arshille Gorky, Philip Guston, Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Cy Twombly, Robert Motherwell and Antoni Tapies. These great modern painters have provided both a model and a motivation for my own continued development
I am truly influenced by Clement Greenberg's theory "that the canvas can provide an arena in which to act, a place where an event unfolds and is recorded." I feel as though my art has recently taken a new, and for me, an exciting direction. I paint with oils and more recently with gouache & enamel on paper. I have been painting with an explosive force, where the gesture of the hand and brush stroke, dances across the paper and canvas creating luminous landscape abstractions saturated with color. My work is painterly and emotional in content. I like to use luscious free strokes of color, which are bold and active, and operate at variable speeds to keep the eye moving. I work in the tradition of a true Action Painter, with out restraint. I tend to paint from the Heart using a bright, high key palette, creating light and lyrical rhythmic movements and forms. All of these works stem from a desire, will and drive to paint, otherwise painting is a way of life for me.
My artistic career thus far has included six solo exhibits and four group exhibits. My exhibition highlight was being involved in a major group exhibit. X-sightings 95, at the Anderson Gallery in Buffalo, NY. This show was composed of thirty-nine artists from around the country, including Juane Quick-To-See Smith. My second solo show, Natural Elements, in 1995 consisted of 18 large oil paintings, which was extremely successful, well attended and received by the critics. The latest exhibit 2D Recent Works on paper represented gestural movements, the will to paint and the natural process to follow ones link with nature. These new works were recently showed at the Axis Mundi Arts in Boulder in the fall of 1998.
As a dedicated painter, it has been a dream of mine to promote the idea in the West, that Abstract Expressionism is no longer an exclusively New York style or an art movement centered in the eastern urban centers, but has become an important part of our cultural landscape nation-wide
