Art is, for me, a form of self-expression through which I can articulate ideas and experiences more truthfully and vibrantly than I have ever been able to do with words or music. As an adolescent, I was enthralled with illustration and drawing, working primarily in graphite and colored pencil, and this led me to declare an art major before even starting college. However, after two semesters of being overwhelmed by my professors’ critiques, I became convinced I was a talentless imposter. I dropped the major and, for the most part, left art behind. I dabbled in music and literature searching for the self-expression I’d lost, but neither got into or came out of my gut like visual art.

Through the years I kept the art in me alive with infrequent episodes of creation, but nothing intentional or sustained. Fast forward many years, many jobs, an MBA and Ph.D. later, careers as a college professor and a small business CFO – to now, when recently, I’ve left all that behind and have finally committed to becoming the artist I always wanted to be.

In my art, I search for truth and authenticity and work to interact with and communicate aspects of the human experience. I start somewhat intuitively, inspired by a feeling, a concept, one of the many photos I take, or even something new I’ve learned about a medium. But where it starts is never where it ends, and the most satisfying pieces are the ones through which I’ve learned something…about myself, about life, about truth, about something else oil and cold wax can do. These days I’ve traded my pencils for acrylic and oil paints, but collage and other mark making tools almost always find their way into my work too.