Artist Highlight

"Although it can sound a bit trite when someone says they have a real passion for something, I really do have a burning desire to capture on a canvas the things in our lives that make us feel more ALIVE.  Art has a way of making us slow down long enough to see and even experience something beautiful or poignant or precious about life.  I literally can’t wait to put paint (and a bit of my soul) on the canvas and for the next creative idea to materialize!

I was attracted to art from an early age, inspired by the dramatic and colorful drawings in the comic books I collected (I especially loved The Flash and Batman). As a kid, I mowed yards so that I could buy my next comic book. That led me to drawing and painting. I started college as an art major and then moved into business and marketing.  Fortunately for me, after a successful business career (largely in the health and fitness industry), I found my way back to doing what I love…creating art!

I’m hooked on vibrant color and bold, sweeping, powerful brush and palette knife strokes. I’ve been influenced by abstract expressionist painters like Delaunay and De Kooning—movers and shakers of the action painting movement, a more freewheeling style of painting. I also favor impressionism, drawing from the masters Degas, Cézanne, and Monet. My style blends all of these at times. I’m always striving to bring a passion, drama, and fresh energy to my paintings so that they catch your eye from across the room.

I also love to fuse music with my art. I play acoustic guitar and have done a fair amount of songwriting. I listen to music when I paint, and I often connect my paintings to favorite songs. From rock, pop, blues, and classic tunes to progressive country, folk, and jazz, I can get as caught up in a beautiful melody as I can in an amazing piece of art. I believe art and music are incredible gifts from God that cross humanity to touch us all. Can you imagine life without them?"