Artist Biography

I grew up in Waterford, Connecticut and graduated in 2001 from St. Bernard High School. I attended Eastern Michigan University and received a BFA with a concentration in Drawing in 2005. I attended the New York Studio School for the 2007 Drawing Marathon with Graham Nickson and as an MFA candidate at Western Connecticut State University from 2007 to 2009 with the late Margaret Grimes. I held a residency at the Vermont Studio Center in the spring of 2010 and was accepted as a member, via invitation, to the First Street Gallery, in New York City in the summer of 2010. I am currently working toward my fifth solo show at First Street. I live in the Northwest Hills of Connecticut and teach watercolor and drawing via zoom out of my home studio. 


Artist Statement

My work, including both paintings and drawings are, at the core, about restraint, restrictions, and  the spectrum of suggestion. This body of work is about a conversation with each piece and the questions I ask as an artist.  What is essential to the visual experience? 

The paint handling is loose, gestural, and varying by degrees in thickness of application and sheen.  The compositions are built upon color relationships and line built both by addition and omission.  Local color is amplified to push physical color relationships, engaging the eye of the viewer to move fluidly through each piece. The paint handling has become bolder and more confident as time goes on. 

I am interested in line and motivated by my surroundings to do observational work. I occupy a place where the vectors of observation, narration, and emotional perspective converge through line, color, form, shape and texture.   

As it expands in size, my work becomes increasingly physical, requiring energy, strength, and grace to nurture each image into being, and to restrain from the  temptation to overwork. The practice of alternating between small work and large work refreshes my mind through constant change and the compositional challenges each present.