BIOGRAPHY
I was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, which gave me easy access to some of the best Art and Science institutions in the world. This undoubtedly directed my career and life choices. But I think it was the many summers that I spent at my grandparent's cottage in southwestern Michigan (a half mile from Lake Michigan) that spawned my love for nature and form. I developed a love of Photography, had a home darkroom, and became my high school photographer and yearbook photo editor. I never went anywhere without a camera in my hand.
Then I went to college.
My teachers and my parents recommended Science or Engineering -- so I went to the University of Notre Dame to study Chemical Engineering. I was also in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps so I didn't even have any room on my schedule for an elective art course. My cameras were put away for the duration. I managed to get through the very difficult program -- and made some lasting friends and allegiances in the process.
I worked as a Chemical Engineer in Tech Service and Sales for a major Oil/Chemical company in Chicago for a little over a year. Then I entered the Air Force to serve my three-year commitment -- and things began to change. After flight training (I was a Navigator/Electronic Warfare Officer) I was stationed near New York City and was once again in a highly desirable artistic environment. I accepted the offer of graduate school for an additional five-year commitment and received an MBA from the University of Chicago. That in itself was mind-expanding, but my next assignment was even more-so. I was a Technical Intelligence Officer at the Air Force Eastern Test Range in Florida. My primary job required an interesting meld of engineering and artistic viewpoints and my secondary job was flying in support of Air Force and NASA missile tests and space launches. I traveled a lot and received many more artistic and cultural influences.
By this time I had committed to a full Air Force career. I was then sent to South East Asia where I flew 106 combat missions. My home base was in Thailand, so I had new influences by the Thai people and their art. I spent a week of “Rest and Recuperation” in Australia and was open to more new art and culture. By the time I returned to the States my mind was shifting to an artistic outlook -- although I had a few more Air Force Engineering jobs in my future -- and the camera was again part of my life. I was stationed in Dayton, OH as an Electronic Warfare Engineer and an Electronics Engineer/Manager and, finally, as a Photographic Engineer!
After retirement (as a Major) I returned to college full-time and received three degrees from Wright State University -- a BS in Art History, a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Humanities. I concentrated on printmaking, primarily on serigraphy (or silkscreen) and developed some of my own techniques in photo-serigraphy. I worked out of my home studio, first in the Dayton area and then in Chillicothe, OH, where my wife, Katie, ran a Bed and Breakfast for twenty-two years. During this time I also taught Art and Art History at the college level and at Adult-Education Centers for fifteen years, including six years as an Art/Art History Instructor for Ohio University in its College Program for the Incarcerated.
Katie and I are now “retired” but we both have many interests -- family and otherwise. I still have a studio in our home and, once again, I am primarily interested in Photography. The Computer Age and digital photography have allowed me to approach some of my photographs with the same mind-set and manipulative approach as I have done with my photo-serigraphs, continuing a unique aspect of my art.
For a number of years I have been a participant in a local Figure Drawing Group. I have recently discovered that I have a certain feel for pastel drawings of the human torso. So, although photographs and serigraphs still make up the majority of my work, pastel figure studies are beginning to comprise a significant portion of that work.