About

About the Artist

I was born in New York City and hold a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Masters in School Counseling from Appalachian State University in Boone North Carolina. I began my artistic endeavors in the late seventies while studying the psychologist Carl Jung’s theories of creativity. I began subsequently exploring form, color, and compositional structure through abstract gesture drawing and paintings.

My formal training began at New York University in Art Therapy and the Studio Art program. I finished my training at the National Academy of Fine in New York City where I studied painting and drawing under Serge Hollerbach who I consider the master teacher who greatly influenced my development as a painter and artist. Through his instruction I explored both the classical and modern masters such as Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Cezanne, Rouault, Rothko, Modigliani, Hartley, Matisse, and Avery.

Currently I live with my wife Tina and daughter Reid in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina where I am a faculty member at Appalachian State University.

Art Training

New York University
Art Therapy / Studio Art (Painting)
1982 – 1984

National Academy of Fine Art (NYC)
Studio Art (Painting)
1983 – 1986

Appalachian State University
Art Education/Studio Art (Painting)
1986 – 1988

Exhibitions

  • New York University (NYC)

  • National Academy of Fine Art (NYC)

  • Catherine Smith Gallery (Boone, NC)

  • South Florida Arts Center (Miami, FL)

  • Nth Gallery (Boone, NC)

  • Creekside Gallery (Foscoe, NC)

  • Reid’s Cafe (Banner Elk, NC)

Artistic Influences

Henri Matisse

Amedeo Modigliani

Mark Rothko

Milton Avery

ARTISTIC PHILOSOPHY

“I strip the design to essentials: The facts do not interest me as much as the essence of nature”. ~Milton Avery

My artistic philosophy is to strip down the image to it’s psychological essence through perspective, form and color. Something that connects us all. Through my art I attempt to guide the viewer into a space where the ego relaxes, the breathe is even and a graceful truth is revealed. The copy of a master drawing; the face of a shocked child clutching a mother’s hand; a man mopping a subway platform with noble intent; three cows in a field, a majestic cardinal in winter and an old chevy truck are all silent images for me of captured grace. I try to take perspective and show it where both light and form make sense. Each form is a meditative state. I want the viewer to have a sense of going into the painting and being silent with the figure. I simply like to describe my drawings and paintings as “Silent Spaces”.