Born and raised in California's wonderful Bay Area, I feel a deep connection to this region. Painting at the coast, particularly the Monterey and Santa Cruz bays, is a huge passion of mine as I find the beauty of this region significant! I am also drawn to the California Oaks, rolling hills, and rugged terrain of the east foothills. I paint mostly in oils and draw in charcoal. Whether I'm painting en plein air - on location, or in my studio, my work is primarily of and about California's landscapes, people and personality. I paint primarily in oil, but also use gouache, watercolor and acrylic paints. I also love working with charcoal where I can get super messy and smear and smudge and get the deepest blacks onto white rag paper.
I obtained my B.F.A. degree in Painting and Drawing from San Jose State University in 1986, a time when my professors were students of important Bay Area Figurative artists Nathan Olivera at Stanford University, Wayne Thiebaud and Robert Arneson at UC Davis, Richard Diebenkorn at UC Berkeley and Elmer Bischoff at the San Francisco California School of Fine Arts. I was immediately drawn to the works of these artists, and others like Joan Brown. Their painterly and expressive brush work as well as figurative and landscape subject matter, had a profound influence on my own artistic development and helped shape my style.