I am a North Carolina artist, working in oils and pastels, with a passion for both painting and the environment. Currently, I am working on two series, one of which is a landscape series featuring the wonderful farmlands and forests of North Carolina. I do both plein air paintings of North Carolina landscapes and larger studio works in which I attempt to capture the freshness and sensory qualities I experience when I am actually in the forest or on the farm. My second series is of wine still lifes. I love the myriad bottle shapes and labels, and the visual pairing of the wines with the foods that complement them.
Impressionism is the art movement that most deeply resonates within me, being a point of departure for my work, which is largely contemporary realism. In addition to the Impressionists, my influences are the Ashcan School, Schmid, Sorolla, Sargent, and Hopper. The currently active plein air painters Scott Christensen, Matt Smith, Ralph Oberg, Albert Handell, and Clyde Aspevig are strong influences on my outdoor painting.
My plein air paintings are included in the just-published Painting North Carolina: Impressions en Plein Air. In addition to selling to corporate clients and individual collectors, I am very active in donating artwork for fund raising efforts locally including AAS-C Works of Heart, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the Human Rights Campaign, believing very strongly that every artist should give back to the community. I show my work at my studio at 14 Glenwood Avenue and at various other venues such as Local Color Gallery, Durham Art Guild, the Pastel Society of North Carolina, and Visual Art Exchange.