Painter/Sculptor
I am an oil painter/sculptor living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although I started drawing at the age of two years old, growing up I was never interested in oil painting. It wasn’t until my early twenties that I was introduced to oil paint in an art class. The moment my brush began mixing the buttery colors on the palette was an epiphany!
Initially, I wasn't interested in sculpture either. While attending CCAC I enrolled in a Figure Painting Class with Bruce Wolfe, which he had been teaching for years. On the first day, Bruce told our small class that he’d decided to change the Figure Painting Class to a Sculpture Portrait Class! All I wanted to do was paint. Disappointed, I frantically searched for another painting class. Fortunately for me, there were no open painting classes; that was my first and last sculpture class, but I’ve carried that love of sculpture with me all these years. The following year I got the opportunity to work with Bruce Wolfe for a short time in his studio.
The Artist’s Son (Age 6 Months)
Oil/Wax Based Clay
Life-Size
Self-Portrait (Work in Progress)
Oil/Wax Based Clay
Life-Size
Red Roses on Table (Detail)
The most fascinating part of a great oil painting is the oil paint itself.
It’s not the subject matter, the size of the painting, or even a specific artist that draws me in while exploring museums; it’s the paint. From Rembrandt and Bonnard, Bouguereau to Van Gogh, Vermeer to De Kooning, my artistic influences are eclectic.
Oil paint can be transparent, thin, and glossy (glazing); or transparent, thin, and matte. It can be applied thick and buttery (impasto); or thick and chalky. Thick or thin, matte or glossy, smooth or textured, oil paint is an incredibly versatile medium. Each new painting I begin is an opportunity to explore.
The most difficult part of painting with oils is deciding how I’m going to apply the paint. In my current work, the still-life acts as a sort of scaffolding from which I hang my paint.
Impasto Oil Paint Applied with Brushes and Palette Knife
Purple Chrysanthemums (Detail), Oil on Canvas
Layers of Opaque Oil Paint with Transparent Glazes
Bouguereau Study (Detail), Oil on Wood Panel