In 1967, as a senior in high school, I entered a portfolio in a National Scholastic competition open to all high school seniors in America. I won one of two scholarships to the Rhode Island School of Design. I majored in painting at RISD and graduated in 1971. I then hitchhiked to Sydney, Nebraska where I hopped a freight train. After a number of near-death experiences on the trains, I arrived at Sacramento and then hitchhiked to San Francisco.

In 1974 I entered the MA program at San Francisco State University. That year I also won the Childe Hassam Purchase Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. I graduated in 1976 with an MA degree in printmaking from San Francisco State.

I then began to teach various art courses at colleges around the Bay Area including the University of California, College of Marin, Ohlone College, West Valley College and City College of San Francisco.

My early works were drawings, especially in pen and ink. These were the old-fashioned dip pens. My first large pen and ink drawing “Tribute to the Masters” won the Childe Hassam Purchase Prize. My next piece was entitled “Melting Masters” which lamented the de-skilling of contemporary art. My final large pen and ink, “Expulsion” has the most sophisticated and subtle technique I (and possibly anyone else) ever achieved with dippers. I then switched to drawing with black Prismacolor pencils on frosted acetate for “American Rococco” and the unfinished “Culmination”.

I thereafter focused my energies on painting.  After some freelance illustrating I turned to entering duck stamp competitions. In 1981 I won the California Duck stamp competition, the first of my 82 state duck stamps.  In 1998 and 2013 I won the Federal Duck Stamp Art contest.  Over 100,000 of my waterfowl prints have been collected over the years.I have enthusiastically supported wetlands conservation – the purpose of the duck stamps.  The sale of my artwork has raised over $3,000,000 for wetlands preservation.

In 2014, I returned to what I call Conceptual Realism. I painted Photorealist Signature Piece #6 as a part of my “Signature Piece” series. “Culmination II – A History Painting took on a more philosophical cast. These two pieces are autobiographical and explore the human condition as well as the beauty of nature. I am now working on “Melting Masters III – the Triumph of Photorealism” which I expect to finish in 2021.

In my paintings I try to communicate my sense of wonder and awe at our existence on this incredibly beautiful globe. I marvel at the amazing minute details and the infinite expanses of the universe.

My artwork has appeared in numerous magazines and books including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, U.S. Art, Wildlife Art, Midwest Art, American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur and I have appeared on local and national television.

My works are in the collection of the White House, the Smithsonian Institution, Duke University Art Museum, Peabody Museum, California State Museum and a number of other public collections.  Additionally, my artwork is in thousands of private collections.

My Technique:

In high school I received a rudimentary training in the techniques of the old masters.  I especially was introduced to the idea of underpainting.  Many observers believe that the paint they see on the surface is all there is to a painting.  That is probably the case with non-objective and other contemporary art.  However, the old masters often did a compete monochrome underpainting to establish the forms and values before any colors are applied.  A beautiful example of this is an unfinished painting of the Virgin Mary by Leonardo Da Vinci in the Uffizzi in Florence. 

To start the underpainting, I first do a drawing in pencil on the canvas or panel.  This drawing is extremely detailed and can require weeks or even months.  Then I apply purplish black paint to create the structure of darks and lights.  Over this I apply flat washes of color to complete the underpainting.  Underpainting allows me to concentrate on the details of texture and color in the final more opaque layer of painting. 

I have travelled to Europe many times, including eight trips to Italy, to study the techniques of the old masters.  This has greatly reinforced the early exposure I had to these skills.

Over my fifty years of painting, my technique has gradually become more sophisticated and detailed.  However, I still feel I am just a beginner.  Fortunately, there is no limit to the subtlety that an artist can achieve.