My desire to be a painter started in elementary school, where I wrote and illustrated my own books. In high school an inspiring teacher opened my eyes to still life painting - and I began studying at the Corcoran Art Museum in Washington D.C. on weekends. From there I went on to major in painting and fine arts at Ohio State University.

While supporting myself as a graphic designer, I continued to paint, entering numerous juried competitions, and earning frequent awards. In 1984, I moved to Los Angeles where I studied with Mario Rueda, a highly accomplished billboard and portrait painter. My time working with Mario gave me new perspective, new techniques, and an increasing desire to pursue portrait painting.

In 1999, I traveled to Baltimore to study at the renowned Schuler School of Art. This turned out to be one of the most valuable experiences of my artistic life. Working with the Schulers, I not only developed my oil painting skills, but mastered authentic techniques of the Old Masters, such as grinding my own pigments, and making and using Maroger medium.

In recent years, I have continued to study in Los Angeles, with Mark Westermoe at Associates in Art, and with Sergio Sanchez and Nathan Fowkes at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art – and I continue to support myself with both fine and applied art – just as I once dreamed.

My current work includes commissioned portraits, figure, still life and landscape painting, as well as graphic design and illustration work. Each commission gives me the opportunity to express something unique for the client, whether the distillation of a concept into an illustration, or the portrayal of a special person, or a moment in time. When you commission a work of art, you are trusting the artist to make the world visible to you in a new and revealing way...I am committed to fulfilling that trust.