Beginning with copying characters from comic books in elementary school, it was my sole purpose in life to become an artist. It was my dream to work for Walt Disney. When I received my first art award in the seventh grade, my course was firmly established. I still have that little engraved brass chalice prominently displayed in my studio. Life has led me down a variety of paths, some deviating from my objective, but never have I lost sight of my true calling.
I never went to work for Walt Disney. But, while serving around the world as a US Army Special Forces Soldier (Green Beret), I managed to keep my artist’s skills honed by producing a number of portraits of my fellow soldiers. These were often double portraits – showing a profile view wearing his field cap and a frontal view donning his Green Beret. I hope they are still enjoying their portraits. Though delayed in the pursuit of being a fulltime artist, the sum of all my experience has provided a wealth of sight and insight, understanding, feeling, visual memory, and plans for paintings that will provide me work for years yet to come.
As a native New Englander, I was immersed in the culture of that historic region. Art in its myriad forms: visual, theatrical, and musical, was an element of the air I breathed. Whether skipping stones across Walden Pond where author Henry David Thoreau recorded the stirrings of his soul; watching the water flow beneath the old Concord Bridge where the price of our Nation’s liberty was determined; soaking up the atmosphere of Harvard Square, around the corner from the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; relishing the spirit residing in the studio and grounds of the sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens or the artist/illustrator Maxfield Parrish; developing character from association with characters like Norman Rockwell and Eric Sloane; learning to recognize “childlife” in our grownup world while at the dinner table with children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak; or roaming endlessly through the halls of our most renowned art museums; I was endowed with an insatiable desire for independent learning and a craving to create masterful drawings and paintings.
My formative years were spent sharing a high school art room with Richard Whitney – who would become one of the world’s most renowned portrait painters. We were each privileged to learn the rudiments of our craft from art teachers Raymond Descoteaux and Norma Safford. We remain close friends to this day. I was fortunate to gather so much of the spirit of painting from venerable New England artists such as Arthur Herrick and Tom Curtain, as well as John Manship – watercolorist and son of the legendary sculptor Paul Manship. New York artists Flora Giffuni, founder of the Pastel Society of America, and Eve Dawson, mentored me. It was in Eve’s gallery that I had my first professional exhibit of my work. I learned much of my style and the painting craft while working with Tom Blackwell, one of the original Photo-Realists. Much of what I have learned about the art of portraiture was gleaned at the side of artists Richard Whitney, Michael Del Priore, Bert Silverman, Everett Raymond Kinstler, Daniel Greene, and my friend Paul McCormack.
Before and after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and working as a small-town teacher and principal, most of my adult life has been engaged in teaching drawing and painting, both publicly and privately. My work has hung in many one-man and juried group shows in New York City, Europe, New England, and the Southeastern US. These include the American Watercolor Society, Pastel Society of America, and the American Arts Club, all in New York City, the Freie Berliner Kunst Austellung (Free Berlin Art Exhibition) in Berlin, Germany, and the Copley Society in Boston, Massachusetts. While these venues are desirable for aspiring and established artists, the highlight of my career was to be included in a group exhibition at the Cornish Colony Museum – dedicated primarily to the work of my idol, Maxfield Parrish. To have my works displayed alongside this artistic giant was an honor and a thrill that will be difficult to surpass!
