I grew up very much under the influence of two 20th century American realists, Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper. Wyeth was a friend of my father’s, who was himself an accomplished watercolorist, and the fluid early Wyeth watercolors had a profound influence on me. For years I tried to emulate that technique, until I realized that I was incapable of it. Meanwhile, the mood and atmosphere of Hopper’s work became increasingly resonant with me, in part because I have much more of an urban background, having grown up in Cambridge and Boston. Both Wyeth and Hopper offered what I felt was lacking in abstract and experimental art, a strong element of content and narrative. I often wonder what Hopper would be doing if he were painting today.

Color, form, composition, and innovation are important to me, and I have great respect for artists that explore them without representative content. But I get the greatest resonance from works that make me see something about the time, place, and human characteristics that define the artist. There is something about them, the tracing of the human hand over more than just the canvas, that makes me better able to see and understand my life. I admire Fairfield Porter for having kept those issues alive during the period when pure innovation was predominant. Innovation remains influential today, even while representative realism has seen a revival in photorealism.

The paintings on this website are displayed in roughly reverse chronological order. My purpose is to show the recent development of my work over time and let it speak for itself. There are obvious traits of Wyeth, Hopper, and Porter in them, especially the earlier ones. More recent works incorporate newer influences. I don’t claim to be entirely or even predominantly, original--but I don’t think Wyeth, Hopper, or Porter tried to be either. My subject matter varies widely, from urban decay to rural Maine. I am sometimes surprised by interest in the pieces I did with no expectation that anyone would want to own them. Many of these works have been sold, but I am not using the web solely as a marketing device. I appreciate comments, and usually learn from them.