Welcome

    I grew up in rural Jersey, where “creativity,” in one aspect or another, became a way of life. I was inspired by my dad, who was a commercial artist who hand lettered large billboards all over the New York area, well before the digital age.  I was intrigued and marveled by the manner he used a brush, so skillfully and with great precision to create letters and other details so perfectly.   My father also introduced me to photography.  We had a darkroom and spent many evenings developing prints. 

It wasn’t until my high school art teacher persuaded me to consider and apply for one of the School of Visual Arts “SVA” 12 tuition-free scholarships.  Suddenly, producing art for a living became viable proposition.    After a vigorous and highly competitive application process, I was granted one of these scholarships, beginning my formal education and training in the arts.  I am also convinced that attending SVA saved me from a very stale and unproductive life. SVA at the time, and very much so today, remains as a hot bed for instilling creativity, allowing students to develop and explore, and “test-drive” their creativity.    Upon graduating SVA, my first job was that of a graphic designer for the Prudential Insurance Company.  Regrettably, while at Prudential, I began to second guess and question my design ability and began pursuing a Masters of Business Administration, at Monmouth University, with a concentration in Marketing; this altered the direction of my career.  I became the first Art Director for the second largest bank in NJ.  After ten successful years, I moved on and lead marketing/sales efforts for companies such as AON, Phillips Medical and AIG.   

After spending many years in the business world, and with the support and positive influence of my children, I returned to my roots and began drawing again. I soon discovered that drawing allowed me to bring forward emotions and subconscious feelings that had been deeply suppressed, and provided a “release-valve.”       I have always felt a connection to both Expressionism and Cubism.  I strive to capture technical restraint/tension and emotion contemporaneously.  I desire to have my viewer remain in the space, feel it, stay, wander in it, be consumed… Feel the depth of human emotion through the universal visual language of abstract forms and colors that transcend cultural and physical boundaries.    In an alternate expression, and in contrast to the deep rich color of my drawings, my photographs take my viewer to a far different and black and white place.  I photograph moments that capture me, that create a stir at the moment, a moment that I want to hold on to.