About the Artist

I have lived my life in the arts, always painting, sculpting or designing something. I have designed posters, books, logos, water colors and anything in between.  Never have I been without a studio of some sort to practice my passion.  I find nothing as satisfying as sketching a new piece and producing it. My journey has taken me from advertising right out of college to new product design in a major manufacturer.  It all meant the same, producing a new piece of art in my own style.

 

As I grew older, I moved into the fine arts exclusively.  My mediums were inks and oil painting.  I was always conscious of the surface I was working on.  Inks went on fine grade paper, sometimes hand made, and oils onto canvas.  At one point I decided I could figure out how to oil paint on paper and produced several paintings using a method or sealing the paper to be impervious to the oils.  It worked.  Then I found pastels.  I replaced the ink work with pastels and to this day these two, pastel and oil, are all I work in.

 

My work is in what I call enhanced landscapes.  Very stylized and very colorful.  I use landscape as a metaphor that can tell a tale or express a message visually through the title given with the colors chosen.  Dark foreboding colors to express fear or a bright sky to provide hope.  No color is chosen lightly and all are part of the scene being set.  I don’t produce photographs of trees rather abstractions.  All the elements of a painting are the expression of the part, grass, bushes, tree are produced to refer to their part not duplicate it.

 

Juried shows

2025

IPPS Pastel Show,  Springfield Art Association,

Springfield IL Pastel

Chatham Annual IPPS Show, Chatham Library ,

Chatham  IL Pastel

Juried Regional Show, Webster Art,

Webster, MO Oil

Galex 58 National Juried Show Dick Blick Corp,

Galesburg IL Oil

Juried regional Show, Parkland College Gertz Gallery   

Champaign, IL Oil

SAA Statewide Juried Show, Springfield Art Association 

Springfield IL Oil

64 ARTS Juried National Show,

Buchanan Center Monmouth IL Oil

Gallery 510 Solo Sh0w, Decatur, IL Oil/Pastels

October National Juried Show

Madden Center Decatur, Il 2 Oil Paintings Chosen

 

 

2024

Pastel Group Show,  SAA Art Association,  

Springfield IL Pastel

IPPS Annual Pastel Show, Chatham Building,

 Chatham IL Pastel

Juried Regional Group Show, Buttonwood Art Gallery, 

Kansas City MO Oil

Statewide Juried Group Show, Springfield Art Association, 

Springfield IL Oil

Juried RegionalGroup Show,  Arts Illiana Gallery,   

Terre Haute IN Oil

Juried Regional Group Show,  Jones Gallery  

Kansas City MO Oil

Juried Regional Show, Webster Art           

Webster MO Oil

 

 

2023

IPPS Group Show, Strawn Gallery,

Jacksonville  IL, Pastel

Group Pastel Show,  Citizens Building,   

Decatur IL,  Pastel

Group Pastel Show,  Chatham Building,     

Chatham IL, Pastel

Juriried Regional Show,  Art St Louis Gallery  

Saint Louis Mo Oil

Gallery 510 Solo Show,  Cancer Center  

Decatur IL Oil

Juried Group Show,  Jones Gallery,

Kansas City MO Oil

 

 

2022

Solo Pastel Show  Gallery 510,    

Decatur IL Pastel

Group Art Show Jones Gallery, 

Kansas City MO Oil

Juried Group Show Art Saint Louis Gallery

St Louis MO Oil

IPPS Group Show Chatham Building,   

Chatham IL Pastel

Juried Group Show Jones Gallery, 

Kansas City MO Oil

Solo Show Gallery 510     

Decatur IL Oil

 

 

2021

Professional Artist Juried Show Illinois State Fairgrounds,

Springfield IL   Oil

IPPS Pastel Art Fair Edwards Place,   

Springfield, IL Pastel

Gallery 510 Featured Artist Show               

Decatur IL Oil

October National Juried Art Comp,  Gallery 510   

Decatur IL Oil

Solo show of Oil Painting,  Springer Cultural Center 

Champaign IL Oil