I was born in the Bronx, in 1964, while my birthplace had many challenges it also prepared me to survive my late teenage years in a town called New Milford which is in Connecticut. This transition from deep urban to rural life forced new perspectives which challenged my young assumptions. I had been drawing from the age of four years old, mainly drawing my dreams and nightmares and so it was expected that I would pursue the arts. At the time I gained entry to the Bronx High School of Science and the Manhattan School of Art and Design was also the time of my move to another state.
After attending the local High School I went on to SUNY at Purchase where more culture shocks awaited me. Flexibility about the human condition and how humans perceive their world was needed, I embarked on a journey to find the core of personal existence through artistic expression. My frustrations with the manner and material in which art is taught led me to dismissed twice from the university (including for reasons of insubordination) and seek my understanding through the field of psychology. Without a full degree I worked in this field for seven years which was rewarding yet very painful to my body and mind. After a small time of being an incense manufacturer my life went upside down, everything I had built had been removed suddenly and I became adrift. I relocated to Pennsylvania to begin a new life.
Thus I returned to painting, but this time I would teach myself if I could not rely on others to do so. I put myself through a rigorous course of study and practice in the technical aspects of visual arts creation, art history and theory plus art conservation all within my home studio. Like most artists I did the usual thing, art shows, local exhibits, local galleries and moved up to urban galleries, prints, larger shows, regional events and publications.
It has been 20 years now since reforging my life around the production of artworks. I find my clientele on my own and I also teach visual arts techniques and basic materials creation to students privately at the studio and online via live video sessions.
The studio also supports an apprenticeship program for promising young artists who wish to create for a living. It is my goal to be able to continue to create, sell and show my works with minimal involvement with the now traditional motif of physical galleries and to teach what I have discovered concerning the creation of works of art.