Art for me is an intuitive relationship with experience and surroundings. I write and draw about day to day exchanges. Art is a response partially informed by events and partially a response I do not understand—it unravels as it happens. The language of the everyday world, social complexity, beauty, color, and texture influence me. Expression is the core of what I consider important as an artist and art teacher. The shape of expression, be it a painting, poem, or sunlight in the morning inspires my thought process.
As a community college instructor my approach is artist-centered—that in culture the role of the artist is unique and specific. I work to create an atmosphere where people engage in the experience of art whether they seek a career in art, or, wish to participate in the stimulating aspects of making art and/or considering the broad implications of an art-informed society.
The art history courses that I teach are surveys of art. I rely on scholars to help me build the framework for students. I am a generalist with an approach of recognizing the artist, the inspired hand and vision of works. My specialties are design, drawing, painting and the dialogue of art history as components of visual culture. I believe art in community colleges should be independent, encouraged holistically, and available as a resource for upcoming generations of learners.
My degrees are both with an emphasis in sculpture. My early experience was in drawing and painting, in college I branched out with the conceptual opportunities of three dimensional exploration.
I worked in New York in the field of art during the 1980s as an artist, a gallery preparator, as an artist’s assistant, fabricator, at some museums, a film set, and with skills in architectural woodworking.
Master of Fine Arts, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 1983——-Bachelor of Fine Arts, San Jose State University, 1981
