I began drawing when I was a teenager. The earliest memory of encouragement came from my father. One day he asked to see what I was sketching and told me how proud he was. He died that same year and I have never forgotten his belief in my ability or our conversation that day.
When I moved to Manhattan in the early 70s, I started a series of line portraits that I drew from life in Washington Square Park and occasional models who would sit for me. Jazz clubs in Greenwich Village offerred another venue where I would sketch, capturing the creative energy of musicians while they played. This was a challenging time for me as I had a young son to support. I worked at various jobs along with attending art school at night, and pursued an acting career, studying at HB Studio, but my main pursuit was always painting.
In the early 80s I managed to secure a job at a textile company after studying at Parsons School of Design, but found fabric design too confining and returned once again to fine art. After attending the Art Students League I discovered a love of figure drawing and worked on a series of portraits and figures. I began to experiment, combining my design background with fine art after studying with Philip Burke, a portraitist and illustrator at the School of Visusl Arts.
In the late 80s a friend introduced me to the Hamptons, and inspired by the light and beauty of the area, I made it my home after living in Manhattan for some twenty years. I painted a series of animals and flowers using a variety of mediums: pastel, watercolor and oil. Some of the subjects were local and I was commissioned to paint the Babinski Farm on Mecox Road in Water Mill. I worked on an animal series which was featured at the Mark Milliken Gallery in Manhattan in the mid 90s. The "Babinski Cow," painted in gouache, features one of the cows at the farm. She was sitting by herself one afternoon appearing very regal when I captured her.
My first exhibit was at the Clayton-Liberatore Art Gallery in Bridgehampton and other exhibits soon followed in East Hampton, Southampton and Sag Harbor. I exhibited a flower series in Savannah, GA, where I was commissioned to paint the Magnolia Place Inn, a stunning four-story steamship-design Victorian building during my stay there in the late 90s. In addition, I exhibited on St. Simons Island, GA, Sea Island, GA and on Hilton Head Island, SC.
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