A little about me

Painting and drawing have always been a source of pleasure for me and an important part of my life. Rural landscapes, animals and nature are favorite subjects, but I enjoy painting a wide variety things. Working directly from life in the studio is a newer subject I'm having fun with. I also work from photos which I take myself.

The paintings I create are realistic in style, but not photorealistic. I try to capture a mood or feeling that has inspired me as well as what intrigues me about the physical appearance of the subject.

I usually work in soft pastel. Nothing seems to compare with the beautiful colors and variety of textures I can achieve with it. Unlike chalk, it is pure pigment (mixed with a little binder); the same used in all fine art paints. Pastel is the most permanent of all media retaining the beauty of its original colors when applied to conservation ground and properly framed.

Awards &
Recognition

I am building a body of work and will begin offering original paintings for sale around June 2001. New paintings and limited edition prints will be displayed in the portfolio section of this site as soon as they are available.

7/01 - Merit Award California State Fair, CA

5/01 - Best of Show Vacaville Art League Open Show, CA

4/01 - Pastel Society of America Award Pastel Society of the West Coast International Open Exhibition, CA

3/01 - Pastel Journal Magazine Pastel 100 Finalist. Painting shown above titled "Aging with Grace".

1/01 - Second Place Harmony in Pastels Show, CA

10/00 - Suzanne Blaney Award Pastel Society of the West Coast Membership Show, CA

7/00 - Best of Show Magnum Opus International Open Exhibition, CA

4/00 - Merit Award Vacaville Art League Open Show, CA

2/00 - Merit Award Ash-Can Gallery Exhibition, CA

1/00 - First Place Harmony in Pastels Show, CA

Education

I'm a self-taught artist, but am always reading art instruction books, magazines and newsletters. I belong to several artist organizations and have attended demonstrations by noted pastel artists Claire Schroeven-Verbiest and Gil Dellinger. In addition, I attended 2 years of pastel instruction in workshops offered by distinguished pastel artist Marbo Barnard.

1977-79 - San Jose City College
1979-99 - Graphic designer/illustrator/art director.
Over 20 years of professional graphic art and advertising agency experience. See my graphic arts resume. Attended the advanced color correction workshop for Photoshop with nationally known author/instructor Michael Kieran and the Power Users Photoshop workshop with Mac Academy.
2000-01 - Marbo Barnard pastel workshops

Professional
Affiliations

Pastel Society of the West Coast
PSWC promotes pastel artists and the soft pastel medium. I am an associate member currently working on my signature status.

Northern California Artists
NCA is a 60 year old artists organization located at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center in Carmichael. I'm currently a member with artist standing working on my signature status.

Sacramento Fine Arts Center
SFAC is a local nonprofit corporation supporting the arts with artist clubs, classes, workshops, art gallery, sales and rentals of art work, and more. A wonderful resource I'm pleased to be a member of!