About the Artist

"Art is seeing something that was always there before but is being seen now for the first time. Good art shows you something that catches you by surprise and for a moment you feel that sense of wonder you felt as a child."

Artist Statement

    Landscape artist John F. Carlson wrote “all creative work is founded upon our earliest impressions, the time when the eye looked with unclouded freshness and candor upon the world!” As a child I loved to roam the fields and woods of my grandparent’s farm. Time spent playing in the barn and hiking through pastures forged an early connection with the countryside. Now when I chance upon a scene that recalls these early influences I am compelled to paint it. Art is seeing something that was always there before but is being seen now for the first time. Good art shows you something that catches you by surprise and for a moment you feel that sense of wonder you felt as a child.

    When I paint I attempt to reveal the grace and elegance of a landscape. I am inspired by contemporary landscape artists Douglas Fryer, Richard Schmidt, and Michael Workman, who paint with ingenious simplicity as they capture the essence of a scene. I am striving to simplify my artistic response to a location, to say more with less.  I want the resulting artwork to be beautiful and spiritual. I am not a plein air painter. My process involves sketches and photos taken on site and reviewed back in my studio. I need time to examine my reactions to a scene before I begin to paint. I organize elements, establish compositions and color themes and feel it through emotionally before I start to work.

      Sometimes it’s the joyful sparkle of light across a field that induces me to paint. Other times it may be the feeling of solitude experienced on a country road or the melancholy beauty of a winter sky fading at the end of the day that attracts me to a setting. I find myself adding elements of mystery to a scene to recall some of the enchantment of my childhood recollections. Many times the final artwork is different from the scene that triggered it, similar to the instant response that engages when you think you see the face of an old friend in crowd. I react to that flash of recognition and my final painting may contain more remembrance of that other place and time than resemblance to the actual scene. It’s the remains of the memory that resonates in the artwork suggesting a timelessness and sense of place that I share with others.

Selected Exhibitions:

2013 Art deCure Exhibits various locations in the Capital District
2012 Arkell Museum Annual Juried Art Show Canajoharie, NY
2012 Hagaman 21st Autumn Art Show, Hagaman, NY
2012 61st  Stockade Art Show, Schenectady, NY
2012 5th Annual Art By The Lake Invitational Event at The Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown NY
2012 Opening Exhibitor for The Tailored Tea a restaurant located in the historic
restored oldest farmhouse in the town of  Colonie NY.
2011 Arkell Museum Annual Juried Art Show Canajoharie, NY
2011 Open Studio weekend for Capital District MoHu Fest
2011 Jonesville Store, Local.art.works.Gallery, Clifton Park, NY
2011 60th Stockade Art Show, Schenectady, NY
2010 Arkell Museum Annual Juried Art Show Canajoharie, NY
2009 Arkell Museum Annual Juried Art Show Canajoharie, NY
2009 Quadricenntennial Exhibit at the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center
2009 Imperial OTB Artist Venue State St. Schenectady, NY
2009 Emack and Bolio Ice Cream Shop Guilderland, NY
2007-2011 Monthly open studio exhibitions at Jay Studios, Schenectady, NY and
   Katz Kafe, Schenectady, NY in conjunction with Schenectady Art Night
2006 55th Stockade Art Show, Schenectady, NY
2003-2011 various group shows with Colonie Art League
2003, 2004, 2005,2010,2011 Pruyn House Juried Spring Show, Colonie, NY

Awards:

2012 Best of Show award for "Lewis Farm in Winter" and Mayor's Choice award for "Paper Voyager"
  Hagaman 21st Autumn Art Show, Hagaman, NY
2012 Audience Favorite -5th Annual Art By The Lake Invitational Event at
  The Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown NY
2011 Arkell Museum Juried Art Show, Canajoharie, NY
   Principal Award in the Painting category - “All That Remains”
2006 Stockade Art Show, Schenectady, NY
   Joseph J. Colangelo Award for first time exhibitor - "Shadow Song"
2004 Colonie Art League Holiday Show, Colonie, NY
   2nd Place - "Cool Shadows"
2003 Eastern States Regional Fine Art Exhibition, Juried Show, Latham, NY
   Honorable Mention - "Shadow Song"
2003 Pruyn House Juried Show, Colonie, NY
   Honorable Mention - "Kitty Dreams"
1998 Sage College, Albany, NY
   Alumni Award and Award for Creative Excellence