The first paintings I saw were the Byzantine icons in church. Linseed oil was a common smell in my Grandma's parlor; our favorites were the paint-by-number pictures of deer in the woods. During college I fell in love with Matisse. Women weren't in Janson so I learned what I could from Helmut Newton and Fellini. Arnheim and Stella keep me grounded. Right now I'm wild for Dove and Hoffman.

My Undressing series of paintings was inspired by an article I discovered in a Life magazine from the 1930s - HOW A WIFE SHOULD UNDRESS . . . as taught in Gilbert School. It includes some very campy black and white photos which appear to have been taken in a hotel room. Some attractions of working from these images were the popular culture aspect and the theatrics. As an artist working from the figure, the dualities of nude and naked or dressing and undressing are familiar themes. Abstracted figures seem to take on an element of actuality when included within an illusion of interior space; these paintings are very colorful and burlesque and have an intimacy and familiarity which feels fresh and new.

I began the Lovers series around the time I realized that my marriage was over. These paintings are of intimate themes within an intimate space. They are a tribute to romance and nostalgia, with a palette of idealism, longing and desire. By placing the body into the world, the experienced and the imagined mutually articulate and delimit each other. At once diminishing and consuming, authenticating and canonizing experience.

These pieces often include images and text inspired by works from art history, classic literature, kitsch and popular culture. Love itself includes inspiration from a variety of sources, balancing memory with abstraction in an attempt to present a realm of transcendence and a notion of the classic.

I plan to keep this site evolving and current, just like I do with my work.