I am a member of Artists in Real Time, Inc. and a participant of the annual, city-wide Open Studio Hartford. I find a spiritual connection with the New England landscape. Connecticut has many wonderful state parks, which provide an opportunity to paint gnarled old trees, shimmering streams, and ice age rocks. My goal in painting is to respect and revere the natural world. In this regard, painting is a form of prayer/meditation, which I practice on a daily basis. I am a primarily self-taught painter. I learned how to illustrate by attending figure drawing classes in Connecticut and Arizona, and by also utilizing plein air studies of nature. Nothing beats good old fashioned hard work, and I have had lots of help along the way. For the most part, I am a "Connecticut River School" painter, but labels can only do so much. My style of painting is a blend of the Hudson River School and Tonalism. In the 19th century, the work of Asher Durand, Peter Mork Monsted, Ivan Shishkin, Frederick Edwin Church, and Worthington Whittredge are important influences in my work. Tonalists, such as Charles Warren Eaton, Ben Foster, and Alexander Helwig Wyant, are also artists that I admire. In the 21st century, the master work of living artists, such as Joel Babb, Joseph McGurl, Bob Demers and Shawn Krueger, also inspire me to think beyond "historical periods." I also love the American Arts & Crafts Movement, which coincided with the Tonalist Movement in the late 19th century. More so, Arts & Crafts was more than just making art, but a social movement that sought to empower artists, craftsmen, and craftswomen as a countermand to industrialization and class conflict during the Gilded Age. From my perspective, art is for everyone, and it should be made available to people from all walks of life. Finally, the great expanse of the forest, the sea and the coastline is a neverending source of adventure and inspiration. I often hike with my beautiful wife, Cecile, in these wonderful places, which allows for plein air work, color studies, and sketches to be gathered for studio paintings. Nothing beats the great outdoors! My work is represented in private collections around the world.