Artist Statement:

Painting came to me naturally, at the age of 12, when my mother took me to my first "formal" class in oil painting. I fell in love with the smell, the feel and the union of paint, brush and canvas. Those feelings have stayed with me throughout my life. As I have grown, the diversity and possibilities available in my medium of choice have affected me emotionally, and intellectually, as well as instinctively. The organic world in its unfettered, unencumbered state has become a warm and calming influence for me. I spend as much time as I can driving into the countryside or hiking near the Hudson River, with its majestic mountains and long stretches of stunning vistas, taking photographs and trying to capture what I have seen with my paintings. At first my inner search became a celebration of green hilltops, blue skies with ever changing clouds, and cows drifting across my canvasses. But then, unable and unwilling to deny the inner-city my roots emerged from, a natural segue occurred in my art. I began to seek out the same mood I felt in the country, with-in the boundaries of New York City. I felt moved by the manmade forms and shapes I saw in so many buildings. I knew I had to capture their unique magic in some way.

Looking up with the same aerial perspective I use to portray my country landscapes, I began to create urban landscapes filled with their own uniqueness, including the skylines, rooflines and cloud filled skies. The harsh, stark buildings that have seen the toil of factory workers as far back as the turn of the century and further, are still here, rising above us, silently holding secrets of things only they can know. The issues that move me to document these buildings are very important to me. Time is not on my side, as one day these structures might be demolished for something, someone thinks can be bigger and brighter. I cannot reconcile myself to the destruction of our heritage; for these buildings are the very core of what NYC is all about, a history that can never be replaced. I feel the need to record with my paints, these monuments of times gone by, that might or might not be there tomorrow.

One day, when time was not a luxury, but the need for soul searching was paramount, I drove to the Hudson. This time I ended up facing New York City in all its glory. The sun began to fold behind me, under the trees and buildings of New Jersey; a golden glow took over the building facades as they stood rising above hills of greenery before me. I reached for my camera and began to take picture after picture, feeling the beauty surrounding the inorganic objects that make up our world. Riverside Drive in all its glory held my fascination from that day on, as does the beauty that can unfold in even the most mundane reaches of this wonderful town. My fascination with the push and pull between the urban landscape and the puffy cloud filled skies became all consuming. I began to paint the city, sometimes beautiful with it architectural bravado, other times hard-edged and gritty, and those amazingly graceful cloud filled skies. I haven’t stopped since.

The many photographs I shoot inspire my oil paintings, and the mood I am seeking. My style has been described as inspirational realism. I try to bring a sense of upbeat positivity to my paintings as well as imbedding the seeds of hope in the eternal struggle for inner peace in a world fraught with turmoil. The primary theme in my oeuvre is the respect for forms and an acute color sensibility. I am hoping to bring a surreal quality to natural or man-made visions, while at the same time creating a feeling of serenity and peace, within the enclosed history embedded in these structures. I feel honored to be in the presence of such majestic old beauties.

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