I keep a sign in my studio that reads, "For a work of art to appear simple requires an agony of mind and spirit." It serves to remind me of the difference between a professionally acceptable painting and one truly outstanding, i.e. one with the universal appeal to survive future cycles of changing taste.

Although a natural scene may give the impulse to begin a painting, the finished work when successful expresses its own world of aesthetic beauty and wonder - a unique creation in two dimensions with its own laws. For a mature artist, the challenge is not to slavishly copy nature, but to address the more difficullt problems of composition, color, rhythm, and texture - and to create that mysterious quality that makes these elements work together as a unity.

Only an artist's inner self can tell him when the painting is "right," or when it needs further development. My work is not complete until the painting gives me that feeling of satisfaction which comes only from within.

Because the inner hunger for art would not go away, his wife bought him a set of oil paints in 1955. His first oil painting was a mess, but his second, an ambitious seascape, sold immediately. Even so, he needed serious training. He plunged into art classes at night and private study, while visiting galleries and museums, devouring books on art, studying composition, figure drawing, color theory, art history - he had to get a second education and learn a new world.

Pasadena Society of Artists
2008 83rd Annual Exhibition, Brand Library Gallery, Glendale CA

Solo Exhibitions
Palm Desert Art Gallery, Palm Desert CA
Cafe Galleria
Laurel Canyon
Add Gallery, Pasadena CA
Dabney Hall, Caltech, Pasadena CA
Theosophical Library Center, Altadena CA

Juried/Invitational Shows
Pasadena Art Fair, Pasadena CA
Springfield Art Assoc, Springfield MA
Wilshire Federal Gallery, Los Angeles CA
San Gabriel Valley Art Assn, San Gabriel CA
Hillcrest Festival of Arts, Whittier CA
San Gabriel Fine Arts Association (Masters Circle)
City of Brea cArte Blanche Exhibition
Ocean House Senior Competition, Santa Monica CA

2008 83rd Annual Exhibition, Brand Library Gallery, Glendale CA

Award Of Merit

Arroyo Seco
? x ? – oil on canvas – 2006
sold

year?, award?, LA Outdoor Art Festival, Barnesdall Park CA
year?, award?, Catalina Annual Art Competition, Catalina CA
year?, award?, Pasadena Art Fair, Purchase Award, Pasadena CA
year?, award?, Ocean House Senior Art Competition, place?
? Best of Show, San Gabriel Fine Arts Association, San Gabriel CA
1996 Sweepstakes Award Best of Masters Circle, San Gabrial FAA, Spring 1996
1996 Sweepstakes Award Best of Masters Circle, San Gabrial FAA, Fall 1996
1996 Best of Show - Board of Directors Award, La Habra Art Association, La Habra CA

2007 Pasadena Society Of Artists