Artist Bio
I am a contemporary figure/landscape painter, I primarily work in the medium of oil paint. I was born and raised in Western New York, and currently reside with my wife Tess in the Old Mining City of Butte, Montana. I discovered my passion for painting, at the age of seven. I was fascinated with the sunflowers of Van Gogh, those paintings planted the seed of a blooming passion. I would eventually begin my education of the traditions of oil, from a local artist named Joan Saba in my adolescence years. In my early adulthood, I set off to acquire a BFA in painting.
I started that journey at Pratt MWP, I spent a full year at that university learning the fundamentals of the visual language. Dissatisfied and filled with naivety, I would then attend a semester at SUNY Fredonia learning old master techniques of grisaille, chiaroscuro, human anatomy and controlling the limited palette. A man with a troubled mind, I left to do what John Muir did, I headed out west. I spent several months collecting myself in Yellowstone National Park. On my return to Buffalo, I decided to return to my education of painting at SUNY Buffalo State College to complete my BFA in painting. Where I learned the nuances of color, composition and the use of narrative from Professor Joseph A. Miller and Professor Lin Xi Jiang. I am a published artist and have been in several regional and National group shows.
Artist Statement
In reflection of what it means to create art, I find it self evident that the visual arts should be beautiful and enrich life; art should decorate time. The duty of an artist; if they are sincere and have reverence. One ought to make the world more aesthetically attractive before they depart from this life. I reject the notion that art ought to command a statement.
Art of the last one-hundred years has taken the elements and principles of art in an attempt to break them. In doing so, they have said nothing. This has helped prop up the nihilistic sentiment a majority of artists face.I look to present narrative, as well as to be visually seductive in my work. Calling attention to the surface of the paint. A surface both rich and superficial; translucent and opaque; filled with color and the void of it. I make an honest attempt at strong composition, I am cognisant to negative space, just as much as the positive. I paint to discover my own myths, my own sentimental beauty and to bring light to where others wither in darkness.
