Art is not an end in itself. It is a method of creating awareness of the marvelous. Surrealist art reveals invisible secrets and exposes hidden surprises. Surrealism is based on a fascination with the strange and imaginary. Surrealist images evoke the possible, supplemented by desire and dream. There are treasures hidden in the human mind, an ability to bathe everyday reality in a magic light.
I am an American born in 1957. I paint with oils and watercolors and ink. I find that each medium enables a unique means of expression. This choice allows me to vary my approach to express the images I have in my head and continue to grow as an artist.
I take my inspiration from many things not least of which is the written word. Authors such as Neil Gaiman and Jorge Luis Borges put me in a mindset to create images of a world that exists just behind the veil of what we perceive as our reality. Of things previously known but forgotten, glimpses of which we see in our dreams and desires waiting to be discovered again. World mythology is a rich source of inspiration with its tales of fantastic and heroic deeds.
My artistic influences include Rene’ Magritte, Odilon Redon, Max Ernst, Salvador Dali and Charles Burchfield. I am a 1980 graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Arts, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Lithography.