I have always been passionate about
drawing since I was a small child. After high school I took a
break from the doodling hobby to focus on my engineering
studies. I graduated with degrees in Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science and have been working as a software
engineer for Microsoft since 2001 and then Google since
2006. Soon after settling down in the Pacific Northwest, I
explored various forms of artistic expression and rediscovered
art as my true calling. My medium of choice is oil. I began
this endeavor by taking my first oil painting class at the
Kirkland Art Center in the fall of 2002, and have gone on to
take several workshops and classes from teachers such as
Jennifer
McChristian, Tony
Ryder, Matt
Buchner, Michele
Rushworth, and Ned
Mueller. I am also a regular attendee of a figure drawing
session led by Lyle Silver in Seattle. I am inspired by a
range of historical and modern masters such as Rembrandt,
Corot, Winslow Homer, Tony Ryder, Ted Geoschner, and Thomas
Buechner. My artist friends Louise Britton, Lyle Silver, and
many others are constant inspiration and help me grow
throughout the years.
I explore a variety of genres: landscape, figure, portrait, and still life, often weather/season influenced. With all these subjects, I look for both a visual appeal and a theme. I strive to create compositions that tell stories and evoke emotions with shapes and values. I am interested in the correct modeling of the forms and observation of interplay between form and light, and exploring how to say more with less, favoring simplicity over complexity. I work from life mainly, as I find it beneficial for my learning of the lighting and the modeling of forms this way.
Art helps me see the world with gratitude, and the process of conveying my views has been spiritually meditative to me. I also find that artistic creativity and logical reasoning are complimentary, as the ingenuity, rigor, and logical decisions essential to both a good painting and a successful engineering project are quite similar. Each painting is a problem-solving process as much as an artistic expression, and I enjoy the growth from having worked through the process and challenges each time.
Member of the Parklane Gallery since 2009.
Exhibited in the Juried Show at the 2007, 2009, and
2010 Edmonds
Arts Festival.
Exhibited in the Juried Show at the 2010
Live ARTS Bothell
Art Festival.
Exhibited in the Juried Show at
Enumclaw's BaseCamp art fair 2007.