Why I Paint

Driving down the newly opened faster toll route to the beach, I sang, sunroof open, at the top of my lungs to Los Lonely Boys and asked myself "how much farther is heaven?" With my newly purchased easel and paint bag in the back of my jeep, I didn't have a dime to my name — yet I was elated. I was escaping.  You see, we were slowly drowning in debt. The great recession was already being felt in southern California, and it was no surprise to us. I had a front row seat to the fiasco, having spent the last 8 years in the real estate industry. It all actually started to turn in 2006 in California. I had seen the writing on the wall. My career and the career of many I know would change irreparably due to the financial crisis. Yet, on this drive, I had one thing on my mind:  painting outside. Painting had always been my savoir and my refuge; for when painting outside, nothing else matters. It's just you. Not the version of you with all of the thoughts and fears, but the you that lives in the moment and as a result, every moment painting outside is pure joy.

My Materials

I have spent over 20 years developing my unique painting process. I primarily use mediums and materials from esteemed boutique color makers. While my first love is oil paint, I am also fluent in multi-media. I use the materials that speak to me, and best express the subject matter and emotion I hope to convey. Blending past knowledge with present day innovation, and classical methodology integrated into a modern day sensibility, in both objective and non-objective forms. I primarily paint subjects that resonate with me, connect me to my past, what is, and what could be.