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About the Artist

Growing up through the Vietnam War era in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, I was warned not to depend on art, so I worked hard at journalism. Editing my college paper won me a U-Michigan scholarship, but I ended up with a BA in English from Lake Superior State in 1969. Funny thing, though: all through college, my commercial art jobs had paid many of the bills.
It took a four-year hitch in the US Coast Guard to convince me to follow my heart and do art as my career. The GI Bill wasn't enough to finish the BFA at the University of Michigan art school (1973-4), so I entered the commercial art world in Ann Arbor, a printing/publishing town.
Starting on the lowest rung, I was soon doing design, illustration and large-format photography. By the mid-eighties I was Creative Director of a small Ann Arbor agency. When the company was sold in 1987 I had to go freelance right through the nineties. Thetford Corporation became my biggest client. In 2000 they asked me to work in-house. With the 2008 recession I became a contract worker until 2012 when work got slim.
That settled it: it was finally time to test my fine-art wings. I started painting nearly full-time and got juried into art fairs and competitions in five states. That was an expensive way to learn that I’m not an “art-fair” type of artist. But I still live, work and paint in Ann Arbor.

What, why and how 

I don’t turn out a lot of pieces, nor do my paintings follow a single “trademark” style, palette or subject. My paintings reflect my love of nature, especially trees and water. Many celebrate people, places and times I love, including historical or even fictitious subjects.
My photography experience taught me a lot about seeing. It shows in  my lights and shadows, color and detail. It also makes the game of “photo-realism” an easy temptation, but not worth the cost. Painting as a profession is better served, not by imitating photography, but by doing what it cannot.
I use traditional, commercially-prepared oils on stretched canvas (rarely on panel). I paint with knife and brush for good paint coverage, but not a lot of impasto. I use layers with rich colors and glazes where I want saturation and depth.