Artist Statement

My paintings are about solitude, space, shadows and the moments between actions.

I paint people waiting, gazing, pausing or moving from one place to another.

The surface of my paintings are as important to me as the image itself. I am always experimenting with color relationships and textures. I enjoy pulling colors up, pushing them against each other and looking for places where the colors will appear most luminous.

Frequently, I am compelled to look back on various experiences in my life - a moment lost, a season or an hour glimpsed or the after image of a brief encounter. Most, if not all, of my paintings can be viewed as reflections on those experiences, but the reflections are not always immediate. They come while I am developing the work and making strategic decisions on such matters as color, rhythm, variety, contrast and unity. This is where my true journey begins.

I love the intuitive and improvisational aspects of abstraction. Most of my non-figurative (or non-objective) abstract paintings are nostalgia-based meaning that they are derived from personal sensory memories. My hope is that people who see my work will be moved to bring their own history to the painting. Some of my non-objective abstractions stem from blind intuitive drawings executed as reactions to auditory stimuli. In some of my paintings, I like to explore the use of oil and cold wax mixtures - a technique similar to traditional encaustic painting.

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Artist Biography

I was born on Oct. 10, 1949, in Brooklyn, NY, and later raised on Long Island where I began painting and drawing at an early age. I learned how to make original hand-pulled relief block prints in high school and at SUC, Buffalo, I majored in art education with a focus on "intaglio" printmaking, painting and design.

From 1969 to 1970, I attended the University of Siena, Italy, where I took classes in fresco painting and sculpture at the Istituto Statale d’Arte di Duccio di Buoninsegna, Siena, Italy.

In 1976, I received an MFA degree in printmaking and painting from Pratt Institute where I was awarded an assistantship with Clare Romano-Ross, the innovator of the collagraph process.

I taught high school art for 35 years in Smithtown, NY. I am now retired, pursuing my own art full time. Presently, I live in Yardley, Pennsylvania, with my wife.

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Education

Graduate Courses‍

1976
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
M.F.A.

1971
S.U.C.N.Y. at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Bachelor of Science

1969 - 1970
di Duccio di Buoninsegna, Siena, Italy

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Post-Graudate Courses‍

1981
S.U.N.Y., Stony Brook, NY
Fine Art Stone Lithography

1977
Adelphi University, Garden City, Long Island, NY
Intaglio Printmaking

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Awards & Honors

9th Annual Artists of Yardley Juried Show, Yardley, PA
First Place

Ellarslie Open 36, Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ
2nd Place Award in Printmaking

Artsbridge Members' Show, Prallsville Mills, Stockton, NJ
People's Choice Award

17th Annual Juried Photography Show, Artists of Yardley, Yardley, PA
1st Prize and Honorable Mention

Northeastern Biennial Twenty Thirteen, AFA Gallery, Scranton, PA
Honorable Mention & 1st Prize in Painting

Roberson Museum's Regional Art Exhibition, Sawtelle Gallery, Roberson Museum and Science Center, Binghamton, NY
Juror's Citation

27th Annual EXPO Competition, B.J. Spoke Gallery, Huntington, Long Island, NY
Award in Painting
Juror: Marjorie Weinstein, Whitney Museum of American Art

Roberson Regional Art Exhibition, Sears Harkness Gallery, Roberson Museum and Science Center, Binghamton, NY
Best in Show
Juror: Philip Pearlstein

International Juried Show, New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, Summit, NJ
Merit Award

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Bibliography

Publications

Artist Portfolio Magazine, Issue 2
Portrait III Art Contest, 3rd Place

27th Annual Competition, Artist’s Magazine
Finalist in Figure/Portrait Category

25th Annual Competition, Artist’s Magazine
Finalist in Abstract/Experimental Category

24th Annual Competition, Artist’s Magazine
Finalist in the Portrait & Figure Category

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Collection

Gil and Deborah Williams Collection - Herbert F. Johnson Museum , Cornell University
Numerous private collections

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Professional Experience

$10,000 National Teacher of LD Students Award. P. Buckley Moss Childrens' Charities Foundation’s

Power of Art Award, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
Sponsored by the Lab School of Washington, D.C.

Louis E. Yavner Teaching Award
Recipient: for outstanding contributions to the teaching of the Holocaust and other violations of human rights through the visual arts

Suffolk County Art Teacher of the Year Award, Long Island Art Teachers Association

Exhibitions

Solo‍

2019
Best Laid Plans, 
Exhibition of Paintings and Mixed Media, “A” Space Gallery, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA

2007
Solo Exhibition, Orazio Salati Gallery, Binghamton, NY

2004
New Paintings & Mixed Media Works, Orazio Salati Gallery, Binghamton, NY

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Group‍

2020
9th Annual Artists of Yardley Juried Show, Yardley, PA
First Place

46th Annual Members’ Exhibit, Frontline Arts, Branchburg, NJ

The Phoenix Show: Inner Visions, Doylestown, PA

2019
Ellarslie Open 36, Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ
2nd Place Award in Printmaking

2018
Works On Paper 2018, National Juried Competition, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts, Long Beach Island, NJ

Press On! Invitational Exhibition, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, NJ

In Black & White, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL

Does It Match the Couch? A Juried Exploration of Color, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ

2017
6th Annual Juried Show, Artists of Yardley, Yardley, PA
Top Prize in Painting

Artsbridge Members' Show, Prallsville Mills, Stockton, NJ
People's Choice Award

2016
Election 2016, The Printmaking Center of New Jersey, Branchburg, NJ

First International Juried Solarplate Exhibition 2016, Alex Ferrone Gallery, Cutchogue, NY

2013
Northeastern Biennial Twenty Thirteen, AFA Gallery, Scranton, PA
Honorable Mention & 1st Prize in Painting