Artist Statement

I have always had a strong connection with art and painting. As a child, I was surrounded by it daily. My Grandfather, Mother, Aunts, and Uncles were all artists and it was a common sight for me to watch one of my family members painting in real-time. For me though, I first felt a connection to painting when I was in High School, but it wasn’t until in college that my connection deepened further and I became inspired by my travels abroad. A fascination for colors grew into adulthood; I admire colorful scenes of everyday life in the city, at the beach, or park. For many years before going to the Art Students League, I tended to embrace the beauty of nature, a characteristic that has brought a nurturing and spiritual effect to my work. I was attracted to bright, bold colors and the excitement of adventure. I had fun exploring and finding who I was as an artist during my travels, but once settled back home in New York, I felt the urge to continue my studies and acquire additional guidance. Joseph Peller was my first teacher, he taught me the use of shadow and light, which is a tremendous tool that I use in my painting practice. Gregg Kreutz taught me to be courageous in New York City, to take my supplies, and set up and paint a street scene from life. Gregg is the reason I started Plein-air painting. Tom Torak taught me how to implement movement into the initial sketch of a painting, a great tool that adds impressions of a classical tradition: the linchpin of his class. It was at the Art Students League that I acquired many skills that propelled my art career.

Today, I favor subjects that have meaning for me personally. The Brides, Dripping Dots, and Plein-air scenes have become a part of my daily practice, among the Hearts and other impressionist scenes.

With the Brides series, I aim to create exotic forms with expressive and highly textural brushstrokes that are full of intense color, loosely inspired by artists of the French Impressionist movement such as Renoir, Degas, and Mary Cassatt. All impressionists whose works blend traditional academic art with the radical movements that went on to dominate the art world in the 20th century. I try to capture impressions of “The Ballerinas” which are found in many of Degas works where he has captured movement like never before. With the music I listen to, my brush lands on the canvas with immediate rhythm and style. I want the Bride to have a dazzling explosion of variable life to symbolize the future that lies ahead for her. The surprise of the rhythm is what excites me while creating these pieces, and I aspire to bridge what I’ve learned in school with my passion for exuberant abstraction and depth of color into the essence of her figure and spirit.

While I focus on a variable of subjects, they have remained consistent over the last decade, today, I continue to use new techniques to create joy and surprises for the viewer.