Petrushka Painting

I began finger-painting at two, and my parents started taking me to NYC art museums almost as soon as I could walk those galleries. There, I was entertained by Van Gogh's swirls of color and bold strokes; by De Chirico's enigmatic landscapes, by Benton's dramatic histories, O’Keefe's stark vistas, Kandinsky's magical color splashes, Magritte's humor, Dali's surreal visions, and by many others. Given those early influences, I’m inclined to create paintings that become narratives or stories, explicit or implied, whether they’re about places, persons, events, or ideas. My work can range from environmental, economic, or historical commentaries, to portrait and landscape images, but regardless of the specifics, my hope is always to prompt the viewer to ask questions. Whatever I make the painting’s focus, I rely on strong color to bring that vision to life and on compositions that catch the eye, often using perspective distortion to draw attention to the painting’s subject. In addition to color intensity and form distortion, my work usually begins with observed reality, which I mold using memory and dream. I paint with acrylic because it’s easy to set up, clean, mix for varying densities/effects, and modify. Since my paintings evolve as I work, those traits are very useful. Cities are embedded in my consciousness: I lived my first sixteen years in NYC, spent nine more during my early adulthood in Chicago, and the last forty-seven within striking distance of Boston which I visit frequently. However, I enjoyed sixteen of my first summers in the Catskills near the Ashokan Reservoir and Esopus Creek, and vacationed for four years on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan. And since I have lived the last twenty-three years with a clear view of Mount Sunapee, nature in all its beauty and mystery is also an indelible part of me, its always threatening degradation a constant concern. Both country and city find expression in my work. Private collectors in NH, NY, MA, CO, NM, VT & PA enjoy having a least one of my works. The corporation Privatus, located in Boston, exhibits several of my works.