Artist Biography:
I began painting with my father, an industrial engineer. We started in New York with tempera, then oils. Good thing, since I was not a good reader, and I often completed all the visuals for elementary school group projects. That ploy ended when my 6th grade teacher made me read “Pippi Longstockings” to my mother. Painful. But, then I began to read and succeed rather than fail in school.
Our family moved to Potomac MD and I graduated from Winston Churchill HS as a member of the National Honor Society with the first class in ’67. I left there for the Univ. of Kentucky to play basketball (before Title 9) and because they had a well-known international art faculty. After two years I quit the team, since practice and play schedules did not leave me time for art studio assignments. I finished at UK in 1971, then left for Univ. of Oregon to earn a MS, then PhD. I have taught art K-12, in four states and painting and art education at three universities.
In 2009 I retired from higher education as Professor Emeritus. After teaching part-time at galleries in FL and NC, I moved to Delaware in 2014. Since then I have had a few exhibitions and published 10 books on local people and places, which also include my photos, drawings and paintings (see www.shorebooksllc.com). My last publisher, a friend from high school, just retired. And so have I….from writing that is. I will still paint and teach painting at ALOC!
Artist Statement:
I paint what I love and I love to paint. Over decades, my style has become photo-realistic, what I call “precision painting” – smooth and glossy. I wish I could leave it behind for a more relaxed approach, but I cannot. My preferred go-to paints are acrylics, as I used in college for large (4×4′) images. As a professor, I taught myself gouache, which I still use today for smaller images. These also appear in published note cards, including research on specific species and habitats.
Gallery
