I've exhibited since the late 1990s, including Hirschl & Adler Gallery (New York, NY), Alan Stone Gallery (New York, NY), Hammer Galleries (New York, NY), The Royal Society Portrait Painters (London, England), Meredith Long Galleries (Houston, TX), The Copley Society of Boston (Boston, MA) and others.
Portrait commissions for institutions such as Dartmouth University and Westmont College, as well as Frederick Whittemore (Morgan Stanley), David H. Koch Jr. (David Koch Family), Paul Raether (Kohlberg, Kravitz and Roberts),Didier Pineau-Valencienne (Schneider Industries Europe) and others.
Afterwards I shared a studio for 6 months in Boston with Charles Weed and Frank Strazzulla, two impressive artists with different temperaments and aesthetics.
I then studied privately in North Carolina with D. Jeffrey Mims for 2 years (he since created the Academy of Classical Design).
I apprenticed on a Ben Long fresco project for Transamerica in Charlotte NC.
Also spent 6 months with Martine Vaugel, a sculptor whose teaching really helped to address structural, depth and volume issues that painters often ignore. I studied various short stints with artists such as Stephen Perkins and Frank Porcu (anatomy, sculpture and ecorche work), and a few months at Water Street Atelier.
I independently spent many many months copying original drawings and paintings in Boston (Fogg, MFA), London (British Museum, V&A), and Paris (Louvre, Henner).
Basically spent the 1990’s studying and traveling…..
WHAT IS A LITTLE KNOWN FACT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT YOURSELF?
My grandfather was a bootlegger
Rather than going to an art college, I studied at ateliers and directly with other painters and sculptors, because I wanted to decide who I studied with and for how long. The teachers were all knowledgeable but all had very different working methods and things they believed, which at times was difficult to reconcile, but in the end very enriching.
Charles Cecil focused on sight-size, art history and really inspired people to respect and appreciate oil painting; D. Jeffrey Mims stressed composition, design, taking your time to look for ways to make each aspect better, and to be critical of what you are doing to improve over the long term; Ben Long is an impressive expressive draughtsman who studied extensively with Annigoni, and watching and helping on the fresco as it developed from sketches to completion was a real education. The other artists and teachers gave a lot of perspective on things, and the independent museum work really created appreciation for not just the quality of paintings, but also how varied and rich painting is, and how each painter evolved over time as they developed.
The best teachers, I feel in retrospect, were the ones that pushed the students to become autodidactic and learn how to work on their own. The skill to become independent and develop beyond the classroom is in keeping with the tradition of artists we admire whose work evolved greatly throughout their lives as their interests and influences directed them to learn new things. When comparing the early to late work of artists such as Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Velazquez etc.- it becomes clear they were not just a product of their education but made themselves exceptional over time.
TELL US ABOUT A FEW OF YOUR FAVORITE CCS PRODUCTS?
We specialize in naturally cleaned oils and alternative solvents such as Linseed Oil, Walnut Oil, and Spike Oil Solvent. Our mediums and varnishes use these as the principal ingredients. We also produce brush cleaning solvents.
We spend a lot of time on our Linseed to make it pale, more bodied and faster drying, so I am partial to it.
The Spike works really well, and we like the smell of it compared to Turpentine or Petroleum (as well as not getting headaches).
