Why I Paint

Copying the landscape or rendering precisely the arrangement of objects in a still life set before me, even though what is before me may move me with its beauty and, indeed, has moved me to paint it, is not what I am trying to do with my painting. For me, copying the world is best done with photography or super-realism.

After spending too many years trying to apprehend that beauty by rendering the objects as I see them with my eyes, I have found that the emotional response experienced in viewing can be lost when it arrives on the canvas.

On one hand, here is the landscape, moving me to respond to it and take my breath away. On the other hand, the painting is now on canvas. For all intents, it is the same image, yet lacking, and it does not take my breath away. Another artist would have understood this problem immediately, but it took me some time to realize that I need not to paint the landscape but to paint the feeling it gives me, and yet, because I love realism, to keep it real.

Some will call this the artist’s “interpretation,” a term I am uncomfortable with. To me, interpretation implies a disconnect from the very thing I am struggling to depict. So I do not interpret my landscapes and still lifes, rather I use their inherent structure and, using color and brushwork, overlay my response.

A better way to think of my approach is this: The beauty I experience when viewing something is the human part of that thing; it is something experienced inwardly, and though the thing may be beautiful in its own right, the beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder….and so I continue my work to paint, realistically, the beauty I experience.

As obvious as this may seem, it must be remembered when painting realism. I can paint the object, yes, but I must also not forget to paint what I feel about it or, better yet, paint it so that my emotional response can be found and experienced by the viewer of the finished piece. This is accomplished through the composition, color, brushwork, and finish. It is that subtle thing called art.

As for “style,” if a style emerges from this, then so be it. There is certainly no effort to create a style artificially.

Artist’s Life

I have been honored three times at the Carmel Art Festival, was the winner of the first Monterey Plein Air Festival, and have been part of several painting competitions and exhibits across the nation: Plein Air Easton, Sedona Plein Air Festival, Callaway Gardens Plein Air, and others. I enjoyed a long career in art as an illustrator, designer, and fine artist before returning to my native California and taking up plein-air landscape oil painting. I’ve worked in watercolor, scratchboard, paper sculpture, and acrylic. My work is part of the permanent collection of the Academy Art Museum on the East Coast. I am one of the founding members and a Signature Member of the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painting Association (MBPAPA). I work outdoors and in the studio. My work is currently available directly from me. My wife and I live in Monterey.

Monterey, California, Carmel, Seaside, Salinas Valley, and around the Monterey Bay to Santa Cruz are the primary places that I paint outdoors. Recently, I’ve been working on a project to paint the Salinas Valley farmlands. You can view my progress here.

Studio work is also part of my practice. More and more, I bring back plein air work to touch up in the studio or use, as plein air was originally used as the basis of a larger studio piece.

Currently, I do not offer any of my work in galleries. I focus solely on the work itself, without the pressure of galleries or sales. However, many of the pieces on this site are available to collectors. See a list of my museums, competitions, and exhibits below the contact form.