Artist Statement

I primarily work in watercolor.  My main reference point is the built environment and the abstract compositions which are present. Resources for my work include aerial photography, maps and charts, and images of details I capture on my iPhone. It is important for me to see the evidence of my hand.  Therefore I emphasize lines/marks.

My architectural training taught me to draw precise, measured, controlled compositions.  Watercolors present an entirely different opportunity.  They are minimally forgiving and, therefore, enticing as a medium.  I like the risk, speed and serendipity inherent in layering pigments, and the marks made by watercolor pencils and sticks onto a moist surface; then watching them blend and bleed.  The controlled-uncontrolled bleed excites. 

I am inspired by the work of both architects and artists, including Alvar Aalto, Santiago Calatrava, Paul Cezanne, Amedee Ozenfant, Odilon Redon, Eero Saarinen, and Charles Sheeler, as well as the author Wallace Stegner, whose novels capture the vastness of the West.

Education / Bio

I was born in the West, raised in the Midwest, schooled in the East before returning to the West for college at Stanford (BA in Architectural History) and later graduate school at UC Berkeley (Master of Architecture).  I subsequently attended CCAC for a mid-career BFA in painting and drawing.

Instructors who have been significant influences include Matt Kahn (Stanford), Richard Gayton and Larry McClary (both from CCAC) and Pablo Villicana Lara (Merritt College).

My wife and I live in Sonoma County after having raised four children in Berkeley.  We have nine grandchildren.  I try to spend as much time as possible in my studio overlooking the Mayacamas.