Night Barbecue II Painting

Born in San Francisco during the summer of love, and raised in Portland, Oregon from childhood. Oregon is a region I am tied to at heart. I was given a set of oil paints and taught realism painting by my artist father as a teen, and have continued on in this style from a nostalgic point of view. The style, themes, places, and objects of the past are always on my mind. Attended Pacific NW College of Art and earned a BFA in Painting, and Photography. From there I began the practice of taking my own photos for painting references, and always work from my own photos unless referencing a vintage piece of printed ephemera. Influenced by Edward Hopper, Fairfield Porter, Ralph Goings, and the filmmaking of David Lynch. The realism style came naturally to me, and I continue to use it to access my unconscious rather than rely on it purely for literal depiction. For me realism or representational painting is a surreal method to bridge to the past. .