I have been interested in the way things look for as long as I can remember. Certain colors next to other colors can take my breath away. There are shapes that arrest my attention, and make me reconsider who I am. So you could say that I was born to be an artist.  I always have turned to art to take me to my happy place, and the place where I feel empowered. 

The main thing I am aiming for in a painting is a kind of strength. A good Composition and compelling colors relate to this.  And the paintings I am most proud of are the ones that are strong in composition and color, that have a kind of strength of character. This is hard to put into words. I am no longer interested in a perfect art work, but a work where I am in my artist power.

I graduated from Stony Brook University with a BA in Art, and I have studied with a two of the best artists/teachers, and they are Helen Rundel and Keith Mantel. These teachers were both of the realistic tradition, which I followed until recently. At one point in my art life I became restless and just wanted to put down paint for the joy of the colors. For the feeling of the paint gliding on the canvas. Heaven!

So that’s where I am now, and it’s harder to do this I thought it would be! If you are putting down colors, do you start with an idea, a photo? Do you put in the lines accurately, or just scribble and see where it takes you? Should I be neat and orderly or wild and sloppy? I guess I will find out, but right now I am having a good time experimenting with my favorite past time, painting.