About the Art Work My paintings, drawings, and collages grow out of a continuing exploration of the natural world and our place in it. The work usually starts from direct observation. Sometimes the finished painting or drawing is completed in one sitting.  More often, using my drawings, sketches, photos, and notes back in the studio, I bring the work to completion through a process of revision and experimentation.  Most often the work starts with drawing media, watercolor or gouache.   Sometimes I combine these and other materials, improvising and re-working the image. In this way, I can bring together naturalistic and abstract elements, use the excitement and tension between them, and create a type of visual harmony in each painting or drawing.

About the Artist Since 2000, I have lived, made art, and taught in the shadow of Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia. Prior to relocating my family here, I lived, studied, and/or worked throughout the Southeast and Midwest (from Atlanta to Wichita, from Florida to North Carolina). Moving about the country so much fueled my love of travel and I must admit to an addiction to the exploration of both exotic and ordinary places.

Professional Info I regularly exhibit my art locally, regionally, nationally, and have also shown in England. For many years I balanced being an artist with working as an art professor. I am now in the studio full time. While I still on occasion teach a college art class, I now enjoy the increased opportunity to judge art shows, conduct workshops, and make presentations to professional and community art groups and schools.