I have drawn and sketched and cartooned ever since I was a kid, but never had any art training except for a couple of semesters drawing plaster casts. When I was an undergrad at UC Berkeley, abstract art was in and figurative painting was so far out as to be non-existant. So I taught myself to paint, in oils, and it’s turned out to be a good way to go.

I paint both from life and from photographs, but mostly from photos. Painting from life is wonderful, but few people want to sit for a portrait. Photos also have one big advantage: you can catch a fleeting motion or expression. Painters work with composition, color, line and brushwork to make each painting beautiful and interesting for the paint itself as well as for the subject, and since people are my favorite subject, I try hard to get a live person looking back at me off that canvas. We’ve all seen pictures that give us The Feeling, and that’s my goal.

I was born in Fly Creek, over by Cooperstown, and returned to NY 12 years ago to paint full time and see what I could accomplish. I worked as a public school teacher K-12 and as a newspaper reporter, editor and editorial cartoonist, and have degrees from UC Berkeley (English and history), RI College (education) and Boston University (Deaf education). I hung my first picture on the wall for sale right here in Cambridge at the Valley Artisans Market—very exciting! I’m a member of Valley Artisans and the Beekman Street Artists, show regionally including LARAC, the Long Island Art Association, Cooperstown National and the Salmagundi Club, and even have a few pictures over in Ireland.