I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master of Fine Arts Degree in painting in 1983, and earned my B.F.A. at Florida State University in 1977. I have lived and painted primarily in Maine since, and also keep studios in both Florida and Ireland.

The initial inspiration to paint happens for me outdoors when I directly observe nature.

It requires finding a particularly interesting natural arrangement within a group of plants, shrubs, or trees---those that thrive in very ordinary places. These are mostly accidental encounters. Some areas, however, I have come to know well and return often for the magic I have found there.

My work is related to abstract interpretations of plants in nature rather than precise renderings of them. I am inspired by the contrasts and the particularities between the northern forests and fields of Maine and the tropical and sub-tropical flora found in Florida and in the Southwest regions of Ireland.

I find roadsides, disturbed areas of ground, and the edges of fields as equally attractive as remote thickets of wild vegetation that may have gone unnoticed. The intricate tangles and bold abstractions of plants are discovered in pedestrian and up-close observations.

My sketches and partial starts to paintings are made on site, including the layout onto larger canvases. I often make large format watercolors at the same time, which help to inform me on the subject matter at hand. I return several times during the short span of time the “arrangement” survives. I record what I can directly on the canvas or paper and complete the work in the studio at a later time.

In a northeast winter, the shapes of ice, snow, and water that settle into the landscape can create great interest. Light and color change hourly. Then, as the season changes, the procession of vegetation speeds through spring and into fall. It is just this about nature, the deliberate way it has of carrying on, that is amazing and beautiful, and always different.