I am a self-taught acrylic painter whose artistic approach is rooted in the twin disciplines of realism and illustration. Architectural design and illustration are the basis of much of my professional life, which has included working as an architectural designer at Disneyland and designing stores in Japan for Starbucks, while living in Seattle.
I have participated in many juried art shows and have won awards in watercolor, drawing, and painting. I'm currently working on a series of large hyperealistic acrylic paintings titled “I DO Know Jack!,” in which I create images utilizing the child’s ubiquitous toy chrome jack and titled with a play on words. The jacks are depicted in unexpected settings and scales. The series was voted to the Top 25 (out of 1,000 artists) in the Public Vote at ArtPrize 7, the world’s largest art exhibition and competition - more than 380,000 votes were cast. I exhibited at ArtPrize in 2014, 2015, and 2017.
The first five paintings of my series captured 1st Place in the 2015 MI Great Artist Competition sponsored by Oakland County Michigan and Park West Gallery. The award included a solo show at Park West Gallery, the largest privately owned art gallery in the world.
So far, 11 of the “I DO Know Jack!” paintings have been selected as finalists in the annual Richeson75 Still Life and Floral exhibits 2016-2020 plus 2023 sponsored by the Richeson School of Art and Richeson Art Supplies. Seventy-five artworks are chosen annually from artists around the world in the competition. My paintings have also been published in several nationally-distributed art books including five issues of the North Light Books series: The Best of Acrylic Painting, AcrylicWorks, 2015-2018 and 2023. The painting Jack of Clubs received an Award of Excellence from the National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society and Pepper Jack Cheese won the People's Choice Award in the 2023 Richeson75 International Still Life and Floral Competition.
I am a former acrylic painting instructor at Atelier School of Art in Royal Oak, Michigan and I've served as a judge numerous times for the Scholastic Arts Awards for drawing and painting. I'm a member of the National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society, the International Guild of Realism, and a former member of the Colored Pencil Society of America.
TECHNIQUES:
I am mostly self-taught in the process of painting. As a young man I had experience with architectural illustration using ink and felt markers. This provided a basis for achieving precise images. I also created images with colored pencils, watercolor, gouache, oil paint, acrylics and even casein. When I decided I wanted to go big with my I DO Know Jack! series, I found that regular acrylics dried much too fast to be successful obtaining smooth and consistent blending and gradients. A great artist and friend, Ned Mueller, although he never worked in acrylics, suggested that I investigate Golden OPEN acrylics. These are slow-drying acrylics that, when paired with a Richeson Lock Box palette, gives me the perfect materials to create my paintings. The paint in the palette can stay usable for up to 6 months! I will be posting a blog in the near future that delves further into my materials and techniques.
INSPIRATIONS:
The trompe l'oeil artists from the 1600s forward have always fascinated me. The magic of fooling the eye to think that a two dimensional flat surface is a three dimensional object has always profoundly affected my creative sensibilities. My art heroes are Salvador Dali, John Singer Sargent, Rene Magritte, early Donald Roller Wilson and my friend and fellow artist Kevin Grass. But, my single most fulfilling inspiration comes from the connection and relationships I have with art lovers and artists who I have met on my artist journey.
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