About the Artist

I was born and raised near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where my parents encouraged my early love of making marks, shaping things and telling stories. It wasn’t until first attempting three other majors in college that I finally conceded that perhaps my love of making things could possibly fit into a future vocation and I began taking studio classes in earnest. In 1990 I graduated to begin teaching art in both public and private schools for about a decade. During that season, collaborations with my creative wife, Nina, led to puppet making, banners, new culinary territory, theatrical productions and experimentation in numerous other mediums.

I guess I have always been primarily a draftsman, 'drawn' to representing proportions, light, shadow, texture and composition, so my creative process in completing an oil painting involves almost as much drawing as brushwork. lately, however, experiences with the brush are challenging me to grant more ‘control’ to the bristles and palette than the pencil. My painting work goes beyond capturing a likeness into the realm of hinting at a story and I find particular weight of purpose in telling of dignity and depth.

After a visit to Morocco in 2004 Nina and I found ourselves deciding to move there trusting God to flesh out my calling to live as an artist along the way. We’re still in Morocco today, with our two creative kids, having quite the adventures. I’m honored to be learning the culture and local Arabic dialect of the people I‘m painting and partnering with as the co-founder and director of an international artist residency program, Green Olive Arts in Tetouan, Morocco. If you’re an artist looking for a season of concentrated research and creative production, consider coming to do a residency for 3-6 weeks in our sunny studios alongside other international creatives. We’ll take good care of you … we’re learning how to from the generously warm hospitality of Moroccan culture!

The older I get the more I realize that being an artist is not just about painting and drawing or preparing an exhibition … it is a way of seeing and learning and imagining with as much craftsmanship and humility as one can muster. As you may have already seen by my love of Making Things, that every material I come across in life offers a wonderful potential for that same childhood passion of making marks, shaping things and telling stories.