ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I started painting again in 2019 following a nearly 40-year hiatus. It was my mother, an immigrant with no formal education, who both encouraged and then discouraged my artistic pursuits.  First, she recognized my interest in art and enrolled me in drawing classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art when I was in grammar school.  Art became an identity and passion of mine throughout my grammar and high school years.  Then, not wanting her son to become a “starving artist”, my mother urged me to pursue a “professional” career.  When I protested, she responded by saying that I could always become an artist after I retire.  Wishing to please my mother, I waited many decades to pursue my “youthful passion”.  As always, my mother was right, I would have been a starving artist.

I paint in an expressionistic style which gives me the freedom of exploration.  The subject is used as a starting point to convey my vision, which can sometimes be at odds with natural appearances.  The artists that have influenced me the most are Beckmann, Modigliani and, of course, Van Gogh. 

CONTACT

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