Please introduce yourself and describe your background
Upon retiring 10 years ago from a career as a newspaper reporter and communications manager at Sandia National Laboratories, I focused on my art full time. I had first learned to paint with oils in the mid-1990s and quickly began to improve by taking workshops with wonderful New Mexico artists and by painting en plein air with other artists. I also served as president of the Rio Grande Art Association for three years and currently serve on the board of Plein Air Painters of New Mexico.
What is your earliest memory of creating art?
In grade school I used to love drawing portraits of family members. I would also set up still life arrangements in the dining room to draw. My mother saw some talent in me and paid for art classes where I learned to use charcoal and pastels.
Describe your primary medium and why you’ve chosen it for your artwork
I paint landscapes in oil. I love the texture and flexibility of oils. I have always admired oil paintings by the great artists, who inspired me to use the medium in my own art.
What other media have you used?
I still use the pencil to draw but have given up using charcoal and pastels. I have tried watercolors and had some success, but my medium of choice is oils.
Describe your artwork in 10 words or less
I paint landscapes and seascapes in oil.
What inspires your work?
The Impressionists, primarily Sisley, Monet and Pissarro, and the works by Van Gogh and Cezanne, have inspired me to paint landscapes and seascapes. The beautiful and varied New Mexico landscape inspires me to attempt to capture its beauty with oils on canvas.
If you could spend the day with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
My first choice would be Vincent Van Gogh. I would have loved to experience his passion for art by listening to him talk and by watching him paint.
Do you show your work commercially? If so, where?
I have been showing my paintings in Amapola Gallery on Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza for the past two years. My art has also been in shows at art galleries in Albuquerque, Taos and Santa Fe, and in the Albuquerque Museum for ArtsThrive. I have also shown my paintings in various shows such as Encantada, the Gallery With a Cause, the New Mexico State Fair, and the Placitas Artist Series.
What is something most people don’t know about you?
In the 1970s I served in the Army Security Agency working with the CIA in Europe, and I attended college in France for a year and a half in Paris and Strasbourg.
What advice would you offer younger artists just beginning their art careers?
If you have a passion for art, let it motivate you to devote the time and energy to always improve. Don’t be too timid or afraid to explore various media and art styles or to hold back from where your heart and mind lead you.