Color, composition, light and shadow, mood, surface, edges, brushwork, are very important to me. A recognizable subject is the vehicle for these abstract elements. Themes of nature and the spirit of this land and its seasons, with a history perceived yet unseen, is something I would like my paintings, drawings and prints to evoke.
After graduating with a BFA from Pratt in 1967, I went to the University of Colorado, Boulder, for my MFA. After graduation, taught at SUNY Geneseo, teaching Printmaking, Drawing, Painting and some art history classes as well. In 1973 I began a part time position starting the printmaking area at Ithaca College’s Art Department. In 1977 I was made Chairperson of the Art Department, eventually promoted to the rank of full professor, and remained chair until retirement in 2010. I became professor emeritus in 2012.
In 2010 I added a new structure on my farm which would serve as my art studio/gallery which enabled me to join the Art Trail. My latest adventure was to narrate my student time at Pratt with the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe for an HBO documentary about his life during the 60s. (See “Robert Mapplethorpe” by Patricia Morrisroe, Random House 1995, Chapter 3.) I am a narrator in the new HBO movie “Mapplethorpe, Look at the Pictures” opening in New York in 2018.
Studio Location Specifics:
Go North out of Ithaca on Rte. 96 through Trumansburg and continue on 96 for 7 miles to the village of Interlaken. Turn left onto Rte. 96A to Lodi. Proceed 4 miles to Keady Rd. Turn left, proceed 1 mile to Skinner Rd. Turn right. My studio is the green building on the right. Go past it and pull into the first driveway.
Accessibility:
There is one step up into my studio