Erotica Painting

Dennis was born on April 20, 1952 in Woonsocket, South Dakota. His family moved to Massachusetts during his youth.

A year of living in Istanbul, Turkey imbued him with a sense of universal harmony. There he started painting and developed an original style using complex geometric patterns to represent natural objects. Dennis worked primarily in gouache, but paints with acrylics on canvas for larger works. He also draws portraits in pencil.

In February of 1976 Dennis noticed a Lapidary Journal with a commesso (intarsia) on the cover. He immediately saw a style similar to his own and realized that stone was an ideal media for him. He then left Boston and moved to San Diego, California where coincidentally both his family and the Lapidary Journal were located.

For 18 years while working as a commercial artist Dennis collected articles on commessi. He even got to meet William Grundke in 1984 at the Pacifica Gem Show in Long Beach, California, where he saw his first commesso; Williams magnificent Silent Night. In 1994 at the local Vista Gem Show Dennis met Williams son, Conrad Grundke and saw his beautiful artwork. Conrad invited him to attend the Saddleback Community College Emeritus Lapidary class where he taught Dennis how to make commessi.