Like most people who call themselves artists, I felt I could draw by the time I was eight or nine years old. I could reproduce, to the envy of my classmates, comic strip characters like Dick Tracy, Smilin' Jack and my favorite, Al Capp's, Daisy Mae. While I continued to dabble in drawing, it wasn't until I was 35, married and the father of four children, that I took my first art class. It was an adult evening class at the local high school in Toms River, New Jersey. I started painting in oils. Following the advice of artist John F. Carlson, in his book on landscape painting, I decided I would first master the skill of painting in oils before moving on to watercolors. More than thirty five years later, I am still trying to master the oil medium.

My work is primarily influenced by the 20th Century realists Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper. I'm awed by those who describe their approach to painting in deep, intellectual terms. Unfortunately, my approach is rather simple. I paint subjects I like, such as old buildings, barns, landscapes and seascapes. I might paint a couple of apples, pears or a glass of wine as long as I can drink the wine while I paint. I'm interested in how light illuminates objects, bounces in darkness and casts shadows. While I try to represent what I see, I also seek to create a mood or response which I sense from the subject. It would be nice to say I seek to reach into the souls of unknown viewers as some artists statements assert, but it would not be true. It's all about me. And to me, it is not an intellectual process, but rather an expression of feeling. In fact, as one close friend would suggest, if I attempted to use an intellectual approach, my canvas would be blank.

With the exception of still life, which I enjoy the control of composition and lighting, most of my work is done with the aid of photographs. Even some of my plein-air paintings are supplemented by the use of last minute photos to be used when I return to my studio. The challenge to me is to decide between what I see and what I feel.