As an artist I strive to bring elegance to the picture plane through composition and color. Since I began painting in 1965, my work has undergone a number of incarnations while retaining a discernable connection to the work that came before. The evolution is apparent but not disjunctive. Boxes have morphed into vessels, vessels into rocks and rocks into other natural forms all informed by my fascination with the subject's form, color, compositional possibilities and emotional appeal.

Current work departs from images of natural objects. These most recent paintings are inspired by Japanese woodcuts or Ukiyo-e, which date back to the 1600's. Ukiyo-e or "floating world" refers to the realm of kabuki, courtesans and geisha, the lowest strata of Japanese society. The woodcuts of Japanese artists Hokusai, Utamaro, and Hiroshige were often used as broadsides and posters for the kabuki theater.

My images have roots in art dating from 17th century Japan. The flattened elegance, graceful contours and beautiful proportions of these forms challenge me to find ways to employ them in a contemporary composition. The warm and luminous colors of my palette create a painterly interpretation of the material.

A thorough understanding of my media allows me to use the characteristics of the paint to achieve desired effects, as does a careful attention to painting surface. When working in watercolor I use a sturdy 300 lb rag. When working in oil, I use a marble like surface of gessoed Masonite that I have beveled, coated and sanded myself. Frames of solid cherry, walnut, purple heart or rosewood are a carefully planned part of each finished oil painting.