biographical note

	Angel in Sorrow oil on canvas 48" x 42"
	Rembrandt Theme II oil on canvas 48" x 54"
	Untitled oil on canvas 40" x 48"
	Rembrandt Theme III oil on canvas 54" x 48"

"My basic philosophy of painting came about as a result of my natural temperament and sensibility. It was always my nature to immerse myself physically in my art. I love paint, vitality, and movement. I find that pigment is a perfect substance for reinventing nature in a personal way.

My painting stems from a belief that our lives consist of overlapping moments that we work to organize - moments of reflection, sadness, peace, disquiet, joy and ultimately, I believe, of harmony. These are the layers that create a rich and valuable life. I attempt to filter this through my eyes, and I hope that whatever poetry dwells in me is reflected in the painting.

I use subject as an arena in which to express my emotions and I don’t believe that knowing the reason for painting a certain picture helps a spectator to perceive it. On the contrary – I think that analyzing all elements of painter’s impulse to paint a certain theme hinders the viewer from actually seeing the painting. It is like analyzing a poem and trying to paraphrase it. It makes the author’s work senseless. The urge to paint is an intimate thing. A painting should be looked at and not explained by the painter.

Arriving at the composition is the most difficult part of painting I find that exploring the variations on a theme allows me to paint with more feeling. It is my genuine hope that the viewer, the observer, will find in my compositions the moments of hesitation, exhilaration and sadness that accompanied my initial vulnerability. I would like to be an objective observer of my own works of art, but I am humbly unable. This I entrust respectfully to you. I instinctively pick certain moments, subjects or scenes and I spontaneously make a choice on the best combination of visual elements to represent them. Sometimes it involves concentrating on details and sometimes a painting needs a rough, almost documentary-like expression.

I like working in a series because it allows for a continual learning process in which accidents become part of my repertoire. Yet when you try to repeat the performance based on what you believe to be your repertoire, you end up with a totally different experience which leads to a whole new series."