The Artist

I'm 41 and I am a full time artist. I have been a professional artist, represnted by fine are galleries for over ten years.

Painting and Drawing are the main focus of my artwork. My influences range from Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, to Rembrandt, Degas and The Impressionists.

My new inspiration is coming from Sargent, Zorn, Sorolla, Fechin. The French Realists; Bouguereau, Friant, Bastien-Lepage among others. I have recently discovered Richard Schmid and Jeremy Lipking and enjoy learning from them.

I am now focusing my attention on painting more figure and portraits.

I love to spend a lot of time outdoors. Whether it's painting in Oils, sketching, taking photographs, walking or hiking with my wife, Beth and our two children, Jackson and Isabelle (and of course, Riley the dog), I find it important to immerse myself in the geography of the subject. This is reflected in my work. In the studio I transfer the smaller outdoor sketches to larger canvas - a process I learned from one of my mentors, Tom Thomson. Like some of my predecessors, I am fascinated with light and colour and how it affects our world. This is what I paint.

I have participated in shows mainly in Western Canada. My artwork has found homes in both private and corporate collections across Canada and The United States, Europe and Japan.

I also hold the rank of Nidan (second degree Black Belt) in Aikido. I am one of the head instructors at Calgary Aikikai. With the influence of Degas, I have produced some beautiful Aikido Classroom paintings.

Before I focused my efforts on my art, I was a Long Track Speed Skater. I was nationally and internationally ranked on a strong Canadian team. Initially, I tried to skate and paint. This proved to be extremely difficult. Not being able to successfully do both, I put painting on hold. However, during this time I spent a lot of my free time studying the work and plein aire techniques of John Stobart. He was a mentor to me then and also to this day. After narrowly missing the Olympics twice, I retired and moved on to my other passion, painting. Now I am striving to be the best Painter I can be. Skating taught me how to struggle and persevere, two qualities that are crucial to being a successful artist.